Telephone
by Twelf Bell
Summary: *COMPLETE* The call was something Watanuki didn't expect - but that's what Hitsuzen does to you. Rated T for various reasons. Implied DouWata as always, especially towards the DouWata Extras in the end, which kind of has a totally different storyline.
1. The Noise

**A/N:** I was actually listening to Lady Gaga's song _Telephone_ and so... this fic of connected drabbles arrived :D (Though it's completely unrelated to the lyrics ^-^;) Hope you enjoy xD **~SEi  
****Disclaimer: **I do not own xxxHOLiC. CLAMP does.

**- - - - - - - - - - - Ch1. The Noise**

Watanuki was laying on his stomach on the store's porch mindlessly flipping the pages of a travel magazine. Mokona was next to him, telling Watanuki frequently to turn back a page because he wanted to keep looking at it. The reason why Watanuki didn't care a bit for the travel magazine was because it was _a travel magazine_. He was only looking at it because Doumeki had given it to him the other day and insisted that he choose a place. But there was no point in looking at the magazine: after all, Watanuki was going to be forever bound within the store until his death. He couldn't go outside the store's fences or through the secret portals of the store. He was just trapped. True, the pictures and descriptions of each travel place was intriguing but with what he was fated to, there was no way he was going to be able to go there.

Watanuki sighed and rolled over. Mokona took over the magazine and continued flipping through it. "That idiot. Is he making fun of me?" asked Watanuki aloud to the clear summer sky above. He pouted and then sat up. He looked over at Mokona and said, "Is there a place you want to go? You can go, you know? In my place."

Mokona stared at Watanuki with squinted eyes. And then looked back at the magazine in his hands._ What a difficult decision. I do have a place I want to go but I don't want to leave Watanuki all alone here..._ Mokona hung his head. "No.. I don't hav-"

"Doumeki said to name a specific place that we want to go, but since I don't really care anyway, you can choose," he smiled. "You can go, Mokona. It's alright."

"But I-!"

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

The seer turned his head this way and that. "What is that?"

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

"It sounds like it's coming from the treasure room," Mokona said, placing the magazine on the floor and hopping towards the door.

Watanuki stood up and followed the creature. They walked through the hallway, past tons of doors until they finally reached the door they wanted to see. The seer put his ear to the door.

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

"That thing sure is loud, if we could hear it from the back of the store." He rubbed his ear to get the ringing still echoing in his head to exit out the other ear.

He slid the door open and they walked in. The ringing was coming from somewhere near the cases that held glass boxes of small things as trinkets and more little boxes that held more boxes within them. The ringing got more quieter as they neared the object. It was as if the object knew of the two presences that were drawing close to it.

Watanuki turned the corner and saw something amazing. It was like a whole new room in the treasure room itself. It was furnished with things of a living room. There was a sofa, a sofa chair, paintings on the wall, a bookcase full of books, lamps atop end-tables, a large patterned rug below a dark coffee table that had a small teapot with teacups on its surface, and an antique-like telephone on a end-table near the sofa. That was what was ringing - the telephone.

_It's been at least three years since I've last seen and used a telephone_, he laughed to himself. Then, he went over to it and picked it up.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed ^-^ Review, thankshu.**


	2. The Call

**A/N:** Hope you enjoy ^-^;; Maybe. **~SEi  
****Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC. CLAMP does.**  
**

**- - - - - - - - - - - Ch2. The Call**

"Hello?" Watanuki asked through the phone.

Watanuki heard a faint "Holy shit, someone actually answered!" through the phone. He frowned at the rude language the caller was using.

"May I help you in anyway?" he asked.

"Huh?" The voice was closer now. It was a male teenager's voice, about 17 years old, Watanuki guessed. "Oh, uh... who is this?"

"_I_ should be asking that. You're the caller, after all."

"Oh that's true, uh, I'm... uh, Pipipo Yellow!" _A bird? A power ranger?_

_Liar. _"... Harufumi Yousuke, you shouldn't lie to your elders."

"Oh shi-"

"And don't curse at your elders; there's no need to, really."

"Uh.." There was this silence between them before he spoke again. "Uh.." His voice sounded hoarse. "You.. H-How do you know my name? Who... who are you?"

Watanuki chuckled silently and then sat himself down on the sofa. "Don't underestimate 'receivers' - they may be psychic. However, I am a wish-granter. You don't need to know my name."

"..."

"Since you called, you must have a wish. However, there is a price to pay. Now... what is your wish?"

"What?"

"Your wish."

"I-I-I don't know w-what you're talking about. I d-don't have a wish. This was just-"

"An inevitable call."

"..."

Watanuki smiled into the phone. He was actually enjoying this phone call. It was like none other he had ever had. Perhaps.

"Alright, I give up. I'll tell you."

Watanuki waited until Yousuke replied, all the while fiddling with a thread on his yukata.

"I want a dog. I've been lonely lately and I want a dog as a friend."

"...But you already have a dog. She's lying on your lap right now, isn't she?"

As a reply, Watanuki heard a low bark and then a whimper.

"Th-Th-Th-That... uh..."

"You're not taking me seriously, are you, Yousuke-kun?"

"They never do anymore," whispered Mokona, who was sitting on the armrest of the sofa, listening in on the conversation and eating some bag of chips he found somewhere.

"I-I _am_ taking you seriously!"

"You're not. How do I know? Because you're lying constantly to me. I told you not to lie, didn't I? Bad things will happen if you do..."

Watanuki heard a gulp through the phone. He laughed. "Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything to you." _Yet._ "I'm just going to wait until you tell me your wish."

"But like I said, I don't have a wish!"

"That's a lie. Your call was inevitable. Only people who have wishes can see, hear, or know of my store. You knowing the store's phone number while I don't know it myself, and calling, is inevitable."

"You sound like a really persistent Yuuko now, Watanuki," Mokona said as he continued to eat.

Watanuki grinned. "I'm just really bored and I haven't had any decent wish-granting lately."

"Is someone there?" asked Yousuke. He sounded suspicious of something.

"Oh. Yes. Mokona. He's my... helper." Watanuki gave the phone to Mokona.

"Hello there~ Yousuke-kun! If you don't tell my master what your wish is now, I'm going to _fly over there and eat you_!"

At that, Watanuki took the phone back quickly and apologized. "S-Sorry about that. Mokona doesn't mean it. He's just really.. haha..." He gave a forced laugh. "...Weird..."

The teenager on the other line gave a forced laugh as well. "I-I see..."

Silence.

_I guess I shouldn't push him so much. It's just a cure for my boredom that I'm after, anyway..._ Watanuki smiled sadly through the phone. "Yousuke-kun?"

"Uh.. yes?"

"It's alright not to tell me right now. You can tell me again whenever you want to. So whenever you want to tell me, you can just call me right back again."

"Uh... But I-"

"Goodbye then."

"But I-"

Watanuki hung up the phone. Mokona stared at him and his hand still on the phone. Watanuki was frowning. He looked at Mokona with confusion in his eyes.

"What is it?" asked the creature.

"Who would..."

"...?"

Watanuki shook his head and smiled. "This is going to be interesting."

* * *

**Review, thankshu ;)**


	3. The Question

**A/N**: ...Enjoy. Sorry. I just really hate deadlines. I don't know why I put one up in the first place. And remember, it's not "SAY-KEH". It's "SAH-KEH". **~SEi  
****Disclaimer: **I do not own xxxHOLiC. CLAMP does.

**- - - - - - - - - - - Ch3. The Question**

"..So who was it?" asked Doumeki, as he poured himself some sake.

"Harufumi Yousuke," replied Watanuki, sighing contentedly from the sake break they were having at the moment. Before their drinking 'party' began, they had been playing mahjong and Watanuki was losing constantly.

During the game, Doumeki had noticed that Watanuki was clearly not paying attention to the game and randomly putting tiles in his pile - (he knew because he made it so that the seer would win but the seer didn't seem to notice and so in the end, Doumeki won.) Since Doumeki also sensed that Watanuki would never win at this rate, he put a punishment game for the one who loses the next game. The punishment game was to tell what was on the person's mind. The loser was Watanuki.

"...And who is that?"

"Some kid..."

"...How did he know the store's phone number?"

Watanuki smiled and shrugged. Doumeki stared at him. "What?"

"Nothing~" the seer stated, though he continued smiling.

"...I see," Doumeki sipped his sake.

They watched the summer clouds slowly drift by in the clear sky, the branches of the tree that stood tall in the garden sway with the breeze, and the cicadas flying from place to place and chirping their heads off in the heat.

"...Did you decide on the place you want to go?"

Watanuki gave the other a look. "Are you actually making fun of me?"

Doumeki smirked. "Why would I do that?"

The seer frowned. "But anyway, I didn't choose. Mokona decided for me, since he's more able to leave."

"I see." Watanuki noticed that Doumeki looked a bit disappointed. But then, you can't ever tell what that guy was thinking... 'cause he looked cheery in a split second. "So what place did you guys decide on?"

"I forgot."

"Where's Mokona?"

"He fell asleep after eating some chips in the treasure room," Watanuki laughed. "He never falls asleep after eating something. Those chips must be something."

"Hn."

"I'll go get him." Watanuki stood up.

"I'll go with you." Doumeki followed suit.

"No, it's oka-"

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

"...Is that your phone?"

Watanuki grinned. "I guess he's finally going to tell me his wish." He started walking down the hall...

...with Doumeki following shortly behind. "..."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed.. though true, this drabble is REALLY short.  
**No update date from now on.**


	4. The Wish

**A/N:** I better finish this drabble set before I go on vacation.. or else you readers have to wait a week before an update D; **~SEi  
****Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC. CLAMP does.

**- - - - - - - - - - - Ch4. The Wish**

_Walk walk. Walk walk. Ring! Ring! Ring! Open. Walk walk. Close. Ring! Ring! Ring! Walk walk. Walk walk._

"Oh, there you are, Mokona," said Watanuki, when he noticed the dark creature lying on the sofa near the ringing telephone. He walked over to him. "Mokona?"

Mokona's was sleeping on his stomach and when Watanuki rolled him over, Watanuki saw that the creature was still sleeping. And snoring. And drooling. The telephone's ringing was quieter now than before but Watanuki wondered, _How come Mokona didn't wake up from the telephone's loud ringing from before?_

"Hey, look at this."

Watanuki turned his head to look at what Doumeki was mentioning about - in this case, holding. A chips bag. Doumeki handed it to the seer, who read the words on the bag aloud. "_Not able to sleep and want a midnight snack? Then _Sleeping Chips_ is right for you!_" He stared at it for a second before sighing. "I should really tell Mokona to stop eating the things he finds randomly..."

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

"Oh. Right." Watanuki gestured to Doumeki to sit down and watch Mokona in case he awoke, and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

There was a heavy sigh from the other line. "Finally!"

Watanuki chuckled and sat down beside Doumeki, who had Mokona sleeping on his lap. "Sorry, did you wait long? The telephone is a bit far from where I usually am."

"That's not it... but it's okay."

"So I assume you've called to tell me your wish?"

"...Yeah."

"Well, I've got all day."

"Okay, um... are you on speaker phone or anything?"

"Hm?" _Speaker.. phone?_ Watanuki glanced at Doumeki, who shot a 'What?' back at him. "...Not that I know of...?"

"Okay. 'Cause it's a bit embarrassing..."

"What is?"

"Oh, uh, my wish..."

Watanuki smiled. "Not at all. Wishes are wishes. There's no such thing as embarrassing wishes or stupid wishes because they're still wishes that we strongly hope for no matter what other people think."

"I-I see..."

"..."

"A-Are you a real wish-granter? 'Cause I'll feel stupid if I tell you this and you're just a fake."

"I can assure you I'm not a fake."

"Really? Then can you show your face through the phone? Or make my dog turn into a cat? Or or-"

"Yousuke-kun. I'm not a fairy or a witch," he stated. "I'm just a regular human being... only with unusual powers..."

"I-Is that so.."

"Yes. So just believe in me and your wish will be more likely to come true."

"O-Okay."

"..."

"...Then, I'll tell you."

Watanuki put one leg over the other as he waited. They were starting to fall asleep from just sitting.

"Uh... well... um.."

"..."

"Okay, uh.. s-so I've got this dog.. Oh, you already know her. I didn't really lie about that wish I told you before. I really do want- 'Cause she's gonna die soon- And I don't want that- And-"

"Yousuke-kun, it's okay. Just take your time."

"I-I..." Watanuki heard him inhale and then exhale away from the phone. "Okay."

The seer smiled, and looked down at Mokona sleeping soundly.

"My dog, KK, has this incurable disease, and she's going to die. I know this since most incurable diseased patients have a death date. But I don't know when KK is going to die since we never noticed it until she started throwing up. I don't even know if it _is_ a disease or not! The vet said that the 'disease' is rare or something though it sounded more like he had never seen anything like it and the cause is unknown and untreatable and and I can't help but worry day after day if she's going to die tomorrow or the day after or a week later or or-"

"So your wish is?"

"I... _I don't want KK to die_."

Watanuki smiled sadly. "...You're lucky, Yousuke-kun. I can't bring the dead to life but I.. I suppose I can prevent their deaths..."

"Th-That means-!"

"Yes. But I have a favor to ask first."

"What is it? I'll do whatever I can so that KK will live!" He sounded like a desperate little boy who was willing to do anything to get candy.

"I need you to bring KK here to my store. Tomorrow is good, since it's a Saturday. I have to see what her 'disease' is," he said. _Though I think I can figure out what it is now..._

"But I..."

"What's wrong?"

"I can't. My mom said we shouldn't let KK out of the house just in case it's contagious or something."

"Is that so..." Watanuki glanced at Doumeki, who was stretching Mokona's cheeks apart and watching the drool go up and down from his mouth. "Then I'll send someone over to check if it's contagious or not and bring KK here."

"Alright...Um, can I come too?"

"We'll have to see about that."

"Um.. okay..?"

"Then, if you don't mind, would you please tell me your address?" Watanuki heard a laugh. "What's so funny?"

"I-It's just that, you know my name but you don't know where I live?"

Watanuki frowned. "Yousuke-kun, I'm not _that_ pyschic or anything."

"Then how'd you know my name?"

"I just have very strong hearing."

Yousuke's silence sounded confused. But then, he told Watanuki his address and after saying that he needed to go, he said his goodbyes, thank you very much's, and hung up. Watanuki put the phone back onto it's holder too and leaned back into the sofa.

"... He trusts you too much."

Watanuki was already surprised that Doumeki hadn't spoken a single word during the call, but he was more surprised that Doumeki was actually _listening_ to what was being said (though you can count that as eavesdropping, maybe?) "That's what people tend to do when they're desperate and impatient. But anyway.. you heard everything?"

"... Maybe."

Watanuki smirked. "So you know where you're going tomorrow?"

"..." Doumeki had his poker face on.

* * *

**I feel like I make the fic a bit longer than I was trying to make it... But anyway, hope you enjoyed.  
P.S. Did you know Ch1-4 was only one day? Lol.**


	5. The Arrival

**A/N**: Sorry about the wait. I got stuck on this chapter -_-; Mostly because Yousuke is a character-in-progress and I still haven't figured out his apperance and personality. So he may sound like a minor character without a face in this chapter. Hope you don't mind. **~SEi**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC. CLAMP does.

**- - - - - - - - - - - Ch5. The Arrival**

"Do you want ice tea or sake, Mokona?"

The creature was awake now, since a night had passed. They were now in the garden that Watanuki had developed in the front lawn of the store during the spring.

"Ice tea, of course! It's been a while since I've had a glass."

"Hm... which flavor would be best?" He looked down at his beautiful summer flowers and caressed them gently. "Chrysanthemum or lemon mint or jasmine or-"

"Whoa."

Watanuki looked up at the front gate's doorway and smiled. Doumeki and a brunette-haired teenager were standing awkwardly side by side - and yes, it was a weird sight, one tall poker-faced man and 'short' teenager with a greatly expressionful face (it was surprised now). The teenager was the one who had spoken out.

Watanuki called them over from where he stood. "Welcome, welcome. You're just in time for an afternoon snack." He looked at Doumeki.

Doumeki nodded and walked towards the store, Mokona following him behind while yelling, "Snack time! Snack time!"

When they were gone, Yousuke asked nervously, "Did... Did that thing just _talk_?"

The seer laughed. "That was Mokona. The one who threatened you on the phone."

"I-I see..." He pretended to be interested in the flowers. "Who was the big guy then?"

"He was a friend from high school."

Yousuke stared at Watanuki.

"What is it?"

"Then why is it that you look my age?"

Watanuki smiled sadly and looked down at his flowers. "It's a long story..."

Then, there was a whimper.

"Oh. I forgot."

Watanuki finally noticed the large sack that the teenager was carrying, the lump having been put behind him so that the weight didn't affect his walking in the front. He watched as Yousuke opened it and out jumped a ball of white fur.

"This is KK," Yousuke said, both proudly and sadly, kneeling to pet his beloved dog.

KK spun around on the ground and sniffed before barking in reply.

"Hello there." Watanuki kneeled too and gave the dog a little pat. "Hm... I think we can cure her very quickly.'

"Huh?"

"I mean, KK will live."

"... That other guy said the same thing."

"He did?" Watanuki stood up and then, he chuckled. "Well, of course he would. Since he's the one who's going to heal KK."

"Huh?"

Watanuki smiled. "Now, what kind of tea do you want to drink? Choose." He gestured to his garden of flowers and herbs.

Yousuke looked around, but then he asked "...Why are there sunflowers in your garden? I never heard of sunflower tea."

"That..." Yousuke noticed a faraway look in the seer's eyes and a flat smile on his face. "..._Himawari_'s are just pretty, you know?"

"Y-Yeah..." The teenager knew not to question him any further. He knew that asking would make him more sad since he would remember it more.

"So." Watanuki was back to his original self. "Let's go in, shall we?"

"Sure."

**x x x x**

"It's... very, um, japanese-styled, this store..."

"The previous owner, Yuuko-san, liked it and I kept it to preserve her likes."

"Was she your girlfriend or something?"

"Haha, no, she wasn't. She was... she was something like a 'mother' slash 'stepmother' to me," Watanuki laughed. "But she really was a stranger turned important person..."

"...Oh... Um, if you don't mind me asking... Did she pass away or something? Because you're using past tense."

Watanuki stopped laughing. "...She... No, she-"

The door slided quickly with a bang. "SNACK TIME!"

Doumeki was holding a tray with a pitcher full of water and ice in his hands and a tray of _senbei_ (rice crackers) and _nori_ (seaweed) on his head. Yousuke watched with amazement as the man walked towards them with average speed, without tipping the tray on his head. Mokona, the one who had screamed "SNACK TIME!" was holding a tray of four glass cups and one bowl. Yousuke watched_ him_ with amazement as he hopped over to them and placed the tray on the floor beside them.

"We found them in the cabinets," Doumeki said, referring to the snacks, as he sat down next to Watanuki.

"You haven't made anything lately, after all," stated Mokona, plopping down next to Doumeki.

Watanuki smiled and said, "Well, I'm making ice tea today so... chrysanthemum it is, yes?"

"Yes!" "Sure." "Ah."

When Watanuki left, Doumeki took some _senbei_ and some _nori,_ gave half to Mokona and started putting them together.

"Um.. Wh-What does it taste like?"

Doumeki, who had a cracker + seaweed in his mouth, stared at the teenager and shrugged. He chewed, swallowed, and then said, "Like rice crackers and seaweed."

"I-Is that good?" Yousuke was staring at them with serious eyes.

"..." Doumeki looked at Mokona, who looked back at him and then both looked at Yousuke with eyes that meant "You're weird."

"Wh-_What_?" The teenager said, blushing. "My mother usually cooks French cuisines at home since my dad is half French and I haven't really gotten to eating japanese snacks lately since we never buy them..."

"Oh, so is that why your eyes are green?"

Yousuke watched as Watanuki, who was carrying a jar of something yellow in them, sat down beside him again. "Um, I guess..."

"It's a nice color," Watanuki said with a smile.

"Th-Thanks..." The teenager blushed again. "Y-Yours is-" He stared at Watanuki's face. "It's different..." he whispered. He looked at Doumeki's eyes and then back at Watanuki's. "It's the same..."

Watanuki laughed. "You should have one opinion of my eyes, Yousuke-kun, but yes, they are different _in color_ and the same... _as his_," he pointed at Doumeki.

"I-I see..." Though he didn't fully get it.

"Alright. Chrysanthemum tea coming right up."

"It's chrysanthemum_ ice_ tea!" Mokona said, with three crackers with _nori_ in his small hands.

"Yes, yes." Watanuki opened the jar and reached in and took something out. Yousuke noticed it was a flower bud. A _chrysanthemum_ flower bud. He watched as the seer put the hand with the bud over the pitcher next to him on the tray and slowly put the flower bud into the water. He didn't notice he was getting up from his seat (to get a better view) until Watanuki laughed and said, "You can come over here and watch, you know?"

"Oh, um, okay." So he did. "It's beautiful..."

"Isn't it like watching sleeping flowers blossom when spring comes?"

"Um... I've never really seen that before..." Yousuke admitted, as he continued watching.

Watanuki laughed. "Well, you have now."

Yousuke smiled.

But that smile didn't last long.

* * *

**Ugh. I have a bad feeling I have no idea what's going to happen next. Sorry. I just wanted to write that last sentence. But anyway, next update will be when I'm back from vacation, which is the 4th of July. I'll think about updates during the week. See you then!**


	6. The Omen

**A/N:** I'm back from vacation ^-^ And now... here's a chapter with some DouWata goodness! Since the others didn't seem to have much... But I think I put too much in this chapter o_o;; **~SEi  
****Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC. CLAMP does.

**- - - - - - - - - - - Ch6. The Omen**

"Yousuke-kun, I forgot to tell you but you do know that wishes come with a price, right?"

"Um... I didn't know that... but I'll give up whatever it is to save KK!"

Watanuki gave a sad smile. "You shouldn't say things like that so easily..." he whispered.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Yousuke asked, reaching for a cracker.

"It's nothing." Watanuki forced a smile.

Doumeki glanced at him before continuing on munching his senbei.

**x x x**

It started raining suddenly, right after the last senbei and nori was eaten and the pitcher and all the cups were emptied.

"A fox wedding?" Watanuki stared at the sky above them. It had been sunny just a few minutes ago, the light of the sun softly tanning the group's legs as they continued on with their conversation and snacks. _A fox wedding... That means something's going to happen today..._ Watanuki thought for a second. _Is it going to be good... or is it going to be bad?_ He didn't know for sure. It was like predicting the weather on a summer day or when a fox wedding was going to be held.

Lightning spread across the gray clouds above and after a few minutes, thunder cracked with a loud boom. Yousuke and Mokona covered his ears as another crack of thunder sounded in the sky. Doumeki looked at Watanuki, who was observing the sky. "Or maybe it's just a summer storm..." Watanuki looked back at Doumeki and asked him, "What do you think?"

"...A bad omen."

**x x x**

As the group was heading towards the kitchen, the seer asked Doumeki, "When do you think you can start preparing for the purification?"

Doumeki had the empty trays in his hand, with the empty pitcher on the top one. He said, "Today."

"Good. Becau-"

The university student cut him off. "I know."

Watanuki gave him a look that looked sad and tired at the same time. "Okay."

Yousuke looked at them both from behind as they walked down the hallway. Mokona was on his shoulder chatting away near his ear while he listened but did not pay attention, for he was worrying about what Doumeki had said earlier about 'a bad omen'.

**x x x**

"What?" Yousuke almost dropped the cup he was drying. "There's a 50% chance she won't survive the-the whatever it is you're going to do?"

"It's purification," Watanuki said.

"B-But you said earlier..." Yousuke's stared disbelievingly at the seer who was washing cups in the sink next to him.

"I thought so too." The seer frowned at the mixed up thoughts in his head. "I didn't think it would become like this..." _I hope he gets the preparations done quickly before we run out of time..._

"B-But what happened? What made you change your mind?" Yousuke started to panic. "Where is KK right now? I didn't see her while we had the snack." His eyes widened as his thoughts became more intense. "D-Did you kill her? Did you lie to me? Are you a fake? Did you-?"

"Yousuke-kun, calm d-!"

"Shut up!"

In a blink of an eye, the glass cup in Yousuke's hand shattered as it was thrown between the small space between his hand an Watanuki's head. "O-ouch.." Watanuki held his face as blood began dripping from his wounds and down his face.

The teenager replayed what he had done over and over again in his mind. It was so quick, like a reflex. But when did he ever have a reflex that would hurt someone? "Ah ah... I-I-I'm so... I-" He started to cry. "I'm so s-sorry..."

Suddenly, the kitchen door slid open with so much force that it cracked. An angry and frowning Doumeki stood in the doorway, gripping the door with the same force he opened it with, causing a crack to begin to form from his palm. On the floor, Yousuke shivered as he compared the stoic guy who looked expressionless earlier and this guy who looked like he could murder hundreds of armies with just his aura. Yousuke had never felt this scared before. He almost screamed when the 'killing machine' stomped towards them.

"I-It's alright. I-I'm fine," Watanuki stuttered. Yousuke noticed that the seer seemed as scared (and surprised) as he was.

Doumeki didn't say anything. His eyebrows stayed scrunched up and his aura stayed unmerciful. He walked to Watanuki who still had his hand to his bleeding face and was saying, "R-Really, I'm fine. D-Don't worry about-"

"Are you an idiot!" Doumeki roared, causing Watanuki and Yousuke (even though he wasn't the one being confronted) to back up. "You could have avoided it!" Doumeki grabbed the hand that was on Watanuki's face and pulled it away. "You even covered your eye so I wouldn't see it? Well, I saw it: you didn't try to avoid it and got hit. What were you thinking!"

"I-I-I-" Watanuki was shivering. Doumeki was unexplainably loud and angry. He didn't know how to react to the words being forced into his ear.

Doumeki didn't let the seer speak. He scooped him up in his arms and stomped out of the kitchen, leaving a scared-to-death figure on the floor.

**x x x**

After Doumeki placed Watanuki roughly on his lounge chair, he went to the bathroom to get a bowl of water and a towel. He also went to get the first aid kit in the kitchen of which he also briefly glanced at the still-scared teenager of whom was avoiding the archer's presence and cleaning up the blood and glass on the floor. When Doumeki got back to the room, Watanuki was still in the position he had last left him in: lying on his back with his arms over his face. He inhaled to calm his fury down before going over to the seer.

He put the bowl of water on the table beside the chair and the first aid kit next to it. He dipped the towel into the hot water and squeezed it of water after a few minutes. He then went over to Watanuki and sat on the edge of the lounge chair. "Are you crying?"

"No, I'm not." His voice was muffled, and it sounded hoarse to Doumeki.

"Then why are you hiding your face?"

"Because I want to."

Doumeki didn't like that answer. With the hand that didn't hold the towel, he gently pulled Watanuki's arms. They didn't budge. Instead, they tensed and they squeezed tighter together. "Oi."

"Don't call me 'oi'!"

"Say that to my face like you usually do."

Watanuki turned his head to the side. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to."

"..." Doumeki pulled gently again. "Oi. I can't wipe the blood off your face like this."

"Then don't."

"..." Doumeki frowned. "Watanuki."

"What?"

"I don't want to use force on you."

At the sound of 'force', Watanuki squeezed his arms tighter and began shivering.

Doumeki noticed this. "Hey..."

"I-I'm not crying!"

"I didn't ask that."

"..."

"Fine. If you don't take your arms away from your face at the count of 3, I'm going to force them away."

The seer stopped shivering. It was as if froze from shock instead.

"1..."

Watanuki took his arms away from his face so quickly, he almost hit Doumeki, but Doumeki caught it before it made a blow to his face. The archer smirked at how easy that seemed to be. Watanuki turned his head away, avoiding the smirk and the gaze. "Are you happy now?"

Doumeki looked at the arm he was holding. "You got blood on your kimono's sleeve."

"I'll wash it later."

Silence.

"...Why aren't you looking at me?"

"Because I'm scared of you right now." It was the truth. Doumeki's sudden appearance before had shocked him to shivers. He didn't know why he was shivering. It was just that... Doumeki was different from the image that had been imprinted into him ever since the day they met in high school a few years ago. It was weird and unexpected. It was like the Doumeki before was a totally different person. Or maybe it was the same person but it was just some part of Doumeki that Watanuki never knew of unless provoked by something like what happened before... but what had actually happened before? It was like time was rushing to get somewhere and everything was in fast forward. Watanuki couldn't think properly.

"..." Doumeki mentally sighed. Then, he put the wet towel on his lap and with his now free hand, he grabbed Watanuki's other arm and pulled Watanuki into a sitting position. He used too much of his strength on the light thing that was Watanuki, and caused the seer to fall onto the archer's chest. Doumeki let go of the arms he was holding and put his own arms around the fragile body that was leaning on him. He gently placed his chin on Watanuki's head.

"D-Doumeki...?" Watanuki seemed too tired to be angry now. He thought it might be the loss of blood that was making him sleepy plus the dizziness that he got after Doumeki pulled him. After a few seconds, he heard a soft "Sorry" from above. From that, Watanuki closed his eyes and unconsciously put his arms around Doumeki's waist. He pulled himself into the archer's warmth and drifted into a relaxing sleep.

* * *

**Now that was a lot. Maybe. Hope you liked it. Maybe. ...Gosh, I don't have faith in myself...  
Well anyway, that was.. weird? Yeh. I think it was. Sorry. I think. *smacks self* **


	7. The Apology

**A/N:** Sorry. I had work right after vacation. And my turtle wouldn't let me do anything... **~SEi  
****Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC. CLAMP does.

**- - - - - - - - - - - - Ch7. The Apology**

There was a soft knock at the door.

"Come in," said Doumeki. He couldn't go open the door himself since the master of the house / store was sleeping soundly on his chest.

The door slid slowly open and there stood Yousuke fidgeting. He couldn't decide whether to come in or just stand outside the door and say what he had to say. Doumeki answered for him: "I said '_come in_'." Yousuke did so, but only a bit: He closed the door behind him and stood there staring at the floor, wondering if Doumeki was still mad.

"Oi."

Yousuke looked up to see Doumeki gesturing with his head to the wooden chair beside him. The teenager hesitated before doing as the uni student asked of him. There was a heavy silence in the air, excluding the soft and slow-paced breaths of the sleeping seer.

Yousuke whispered, "Is... Is he okay?"

Doumeki nodded.

"..." Yousuke looked down at the sleeping figure, whose arms were still around the other man's waist. Watanuki's face was covered with his midnight hair but Yousuke knew that the wounds that he made half an hour ago were still there. He reached out and brushed the hair away from Watanuki's eyes. "I'm sorry..." He felt tears appear at the edge of his eyes and he took his hand back to wipe them away.

After a few minutes, Doumeki gently pulled Watanuki's arms around his waist and put them at the seer's sides. Then, he carefully placed Watanuki back in a lying position on the lounge chair. Now that he was free of Watanuki, he stood up and stretched. Yousuke's mind was wandering elsewhere before he snapped to attention at Doumeki saying, "Use the towel over there and wipe the rest of the blood away. And also, bandage the wounds with the tape in the first aid kit."

"Ah, yes sir!"

Doumeki began to leave.

"Wh-Where are you going?"

Doumeki was already at the door. He said, "To prepare." And slid the door silently closed.

"H-Have a nice trip..." Yousuke whispered, before turning to Watanuki and starting the task that Doumeki had requested of him.

"A-Alright... let's do this..." He mumbled to himself. He went to the bowl of water and dipped the towel in. Then, he raised it slightly above the water and squeezed the towel of water, leaving a damp towel in his hands.

He went over to Watanuki and smoothed away some hair that was in the way of his job. He stared at the pale face of the sleeping figure and thought, _He really looks my age... It's scary that he's older than me..._

He lightly placed the towel on Watanuki's face and began wiping away the almost-dried blood. He washed the towel of blood at least three times before the lovely face of Watanuki was clear of blood. Then, he went on to using the tape from the first aid kit on the table to bandage the seer's wounds.

Watanuki stirred only once when Yousuke actually poked the man in the eye when bandaging the wound that was near his eyebrow. Yousuke silently apologized over and over and brushed Watanuki's hair gently, lulling him to sleep again. That worked and when Yousuke was done, he picked up the bowl with one hand and the first aid kit with the other. He slid the door open with a foot and went to the proper rooms to place the things in his hands back to where they belonged. When he got back to the room, Watanuki was sitting up with a hand to his head.

"Ah... Y-You're awake..."

Watanuki looked up and smiled. "Did you do this?" He pointed at the bandages on his face.

"Ah, yes. Doumeki-san told me to..." Yousuke lowered his head, remembering what he had done.

"I-I'm sorry." "Sorry."

"Huh?" "Eh?"

They both laughed. Then, Yousuke asked, "Why are _you_ apologizing? I'm the one who hurt you..."

Watanuki gestured for Yousuke to come away from the door and closer to him. The teen did so, and stood about a foot away from the lounge chair. They were face to face, since Yousuke's height was a little less than average. Watanuki reached out a hand towards Yousuke's face. The teen thought he was going to be slapped or hit so he squeezed his eyes shut. But the hand did not touch his cheek; it rested on his head. He opened his eyes in surprise to Watanuki smiling sadly.

"It wasn't your fault, so you don't have to apologize. I'm the one who's supposed to apologize... because I didn't say enough to reassure you of anything or to make you trust me." He paused and sighed. "I didn't think it was needed since there was never a time in which I had to." He took his hand away from the teen's head and clasped his other hand which lay on his lap. "I guess... after all these years, I've forgotten about 'trust'..."

"That's not true!"

Watanuki looked at him.

"Y-You trust Doumeki-san. A-and that Mokona. And... those girls. And... whoever Yuuko-san is..."

The corner of Watanuki's mouth twitched and then he laughed. "It's not the same though. What I place in them is not trust but love. I've been with them for too long that... we know each other like... our palms."

Yousuke stared at him. "Our palms?"

Watanuki nodded and stared at one of his palms. With the other hand, he traced the lines with a finger. "You're around them for so long that you know them so well and not well enough."

"What do you mean?"

"You think you know them but the truth is, you don't know them at all."

"..."

"For example, Doumeki." He laughed before continuing, "I always knew him as an annoying and expressionless guy who always came to my rescue whenever I was in trouble..." He stared at the ceiling as if there were pictures of his memories up there. "But he wasn't really like that. I understand that now... but not completely. Do you understand?"

Yousuke fidgeted. "N-Not... really..."

Watanuki smiled. "Don't worry about it."

"So you put love in them instead of trust because you know they know you love them and that they can do whatever they want?"

"That's right. Since putting trust in them is too much of a burden for the truster and the trusted."

"... I see..."

"No. You don't 'see'. You 'understand'."

"Huh?"

"It's the same for you, right? You put not 'trust' in KK, but 'love', right?"

"...I guess..."

Watanuki took Yousuke's hands and held them. "Be more optimistic. It's 'yes' or it's 'no'."

"Yes."

"Good for you." Watanuki patted Yousuke's hand.

Then, Yousuke asked, "Um... where's KK?"

"Hm? Oh. She's out in the yard playing with the girls."

"Oh... Okay..." Yousuke fidgeted again.

"...What's wrong?"

"It's just that... I wonder if... after that talk... should I place 'trust' in you or 'love'?"

Watanuki said, "That. Depends on you."

"But... It's easy to say 'I trust you' but saying 'I love you' to someone you just met is... strange..."

The seer laughed at the teen's thinking. "Don't worry about it. I'll understand."

Yousuke smiled. "Then... I love you."

"Haha, thank you."

"Ah... Do you say that to Doumeki-san?"

Watanuki stared at him. Yousuke noticed a little pink hue creep up the seer's neck and to his pale cheeks. Watanuki chuckled. "He might take it the wrong way."

* * *

**I don't really understand what I just wrote so I know you don't know either. But don't worry about it. =_= It'll come to us.**


	8. The Beginning

**A/N:** A quick update before I have to go to work. Enjoy **~SEi**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC. CLAMP does.

**Note:** Each little 'act' is in different rooms. Some you can tell immediately, some you can't. But you don't have to worry about that. Just know that they are all in separate rooms or places.

**- - - - - - - - - - - - Ch8. The Beginning**

"Oh. Welcome back."

Doumeki gave a "I'm back" kind of nod and went to search the refrigerator and cabinets of the kitchen for something to eat.

Watanuki watched him take a large bottle of green tea out of the refrigerator and a small box out of one cabinet on the wall. "So you're done preparing?"

"Mm." Doumeki was gulping down the green tea very quickly. When he put it down on the counter, it was two-thirds finished. "All we need is the people."

"Alright." Watanuki watched as Doumeki opened the box of mochi and pop two of them into his mouth at a time. He folded his arms and frowned. "...I'm only going to forgive you for today."

"Mm."

Watanuki sighed to himself and began walking out the doorway. He knew he saw a smirk somewhere in that glutton's mouth.

**x x x**

"Ah. Mokona..."

Mokona turned around and hopped towards Watanuki. "Is something wrong? The preparations are done, right?"

Watanuki kneeled on the floor. "They are. They are... It's just that... do you mind if..."

The creature understood. "No worries, Watanuki! I'll keep them all safe."

"Thank you."

"But it would be better if you're there too..."

Watanuki gave him a sad look. "But you know that I can't..."

Mokona sighed.

"... in person."

The creature's eyes brightened. "Oh, that's right! I forgot." He laughed; he had been fooled by Watanuki's sad expression.

Watanuki patted his head. "It'll be a bit hard to remember but I'll do my best."

"Of course! Since you're the great Watanuki-sama!"

Watanuki laughed half-heartedly.

**x x x**

"Um... Can I go see KK?"

Watanuki stared at him as if wondering if that was a joke or not. "Of course you can. She's your dog."

"N-No... I mean..."

The seer gave a smile. "She's always been there for you. So you should be there for her too."

"... I understand..."

Watanuki pushed him towards the yard. "Now you go right ahead."

Yousuke hesitated before going on his own without Watanuki pushing him. From behind, Watanuki watched as the teen clenched his hands into fists.

**x x x**

Yousuke sat on the dirt, not caring that his mom was going to yell at him later that the new pants she bought for him were dirty already. He watched as KK and the girls began chasing each other. When Maru and Moro noticed Yousuke, they stopped playing and went back into the store with an understanding smile. KK ran over to where Yousuke sat fidgeting.

"You know, KK..."

The dog gave a bark and began chasing her tail.

"I really love you. I really do."

She stopped and gave a loud "Ruff!" to his face.

"I trust you. I care about you. I really really love you."

KK slobbered all over Yousuke's face.

Yousuke felt tears coming to his eyes. "So make sure you live, alright? I don't want to be alone anymore."

KK sat down in front of him and stared straight at his face.

The teen wiped away his tears with the back of his hand and chuckled. He had remembered what Watanuki had told him. He said, "No. I mean... I'm not going to force you to stay here with me. You can go if you want, but I'm just going to let you know beforehand that I will always love you more than anyone."

The dog cocked his head.

Yousuke laughed. "Oh, what am I saying? You probably don't understand me. But it doesn't matter... Now, let's shake hands... Or paws." He put his hand forward.

KK raised a paw and put it in the teen's hand.

"Haha, good girl, good girl. You'll always be my good girl."

And they shook hands / paws.

**x x x**

"Are you ready, Yousuke?"

Yousuke lowered his head. He felt tired. "I guess..."

Watanuki lifted the teen's head with a finger. "Don't worry. It will be alright."

"How would you know? Can you tell the future?" The teen's green eyes burned into Watanuki's bi-colored eyes.

The seer looked away. "I... No... I can't do that... But I know because everyone will be there to make sure it will be alright."

"You're going to be there too, right?"

Watanuki nodded.

"But you don't look..." Yousuke looked the seer up and down. "... like you're going to be going anywhere..."

The seer gave a smile. "Don't worry. I'm definitely going to be there."

"Promise?" Yousuke held up his pinky.

Watanuki stared at it before shaking his head and using a hand to lower Yousuke's own. "I don't need to promise you for that."

Yousuke looked worried.

"Yousuke-kun."

"...?"

"You love me don't you?"

"...Yes."

"So believe in that love."

"...Alright... I-I mean, I will!"

Watanuki patted the teen's head, grinning. "That's the spirit."

"Oi. You guys done talking? We can't waste time."

Watanuki looked at Doumeki, who was standing in the doorway with Mokona on his shoulder. "Yes. We're done."

Yousuke walked over to where Doumeki stood waiting and turned back to say, "See you there."

"Yes. Have a safe trip." The seer smiled and waved.

Yousuke bowed and smiled back. He then went towards the street gates, Doumeki following shortly behind after Watanuki said to him, "I won't be able to talk to you but you'll see me there. And, I won't be able to do anything if something goes wrong."

"I know."

"Take care."

Doumeki nodded and then slid the door firmly shut.

* * *

**The 'love' part is kinda weird if you just read it lol. But you should know what I mean if you read the previous chapter...  
**And... Yousuke doesn't sound or act like he's 17, does he?

**12/19 Edit:** Thanks a lot to _Tamakiberry114_ for noticing the eye error! :D


	9. The Middle

**A/N:** Here's a new chapter. Hope you enjoy ;) **~SEi**  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own xxxHOLiC. CLAMP does.

**- - - - - - - - - - - - Ch9. The Middle**

Just two blocks away from the store and there already was an uncomfortable silence in the car. Doumeki glanced at Yousuke who sat next to him in the front passenger seat with a sleeping Mokona on his lap to see what was wrong. Since the minute Doumeki arrived at the teen's door, Yousuke's face was easy to read. As he waited patiently for the question he knew was going to be asked, he stared silently at the road ahead of him. There really was no need to drive the car since the temple wasn't that far from the store, but he had to bring the car with him since Watanuki had said something like, "He won't be able to come back anymore..."

Doumeki couldn't understand that statement very well. He knew that people with wishes were allowed to enter the store and not be able to enter again after their wishes were granted but... what about him? He himself didn't have another wish... did he? Or was it someone's request that he should stay... and take care of Watanuki...? He couldn't remember well; the ransacking of the brain, otherwise known as 'thinking', was causing his head to hurt. He was mentally glad when Yousuke finally asked his question.

"Is he really coming?"

"..."

The driver felt his passenger look at him. "Doumeki-san?"

"Do you believe in him?"

"Well, yeah..." Yousuke turned his head away towards the window and muttered, "...I do love him..."

"Huh?"

The teen quickly stammered, "N-Nothing..."

"..."

It was the teen's turn to glance at the other. I_ wonder what would happen if I asked..._ "Hey... um, Doumeki-san?"

"...What."

"Do you... Do you love Watanuki-san?" It was his first time saying the store owner's name. It felt weird on his tongue, as if it was a nonsense word that he made up and no one knew of.

Doumeki stopped the car. They had arrived at the temple. He stared at Yousuke for a moment before answering, "Yeah. I do." and then turning away and getting out of the car.

Yousuke watched as Doumeki slammed the door shut and then beckoned to him to hurry up. "What did that mean?" he asked aloud. Mokona giggled in his sleep. He shrugged and then got out of the car, carrying Mokona with both arms. As he ran over to where Doumeki stood at the entrance of the temple with KK at his heels (KK had been sitting quietly in the back seat), he gave a mental note to himself to remember to take action later. If there was time.

**x x x**

"-em... Oi. Are you listening?"

"Huh?" Yousuke looked at Doumeki. "Oh. Sorry. Could you repeat that..?" He had been quite immersed with the scenery when Doumeki led him down the stone path with beautiful sakura trees on either side of the road towards the large temple / house. He had never been to a temple before - only churches. And every church looked almost exactly like each other. But this temple looked extraordinarily different even though the purpose of the temple was almost similar to a church.

Doumeki sighed. "Nevermind." He muttered, "You'll figure it out along the way."

Yousuke nodded absentmindedly. The calm and summer breeze blew through his hair, emphasizing the peaceful atmosphere of the place; the air was clear but a bit heavy with heat; there were white cotton clouds swimming slowly in the blueness of the sky; summer flowers in their garden beds shone brightly, even as the sun hid itself behind passing clouds or behind the large pink heads of the sakura trees, making crystal glass-like reflections on the ground. Summer in the temple looked relaxing and peaceful.

But no, it wasn't going to peaceful for long.

**x x x**

Yousuke took off his shoes at the temple's doorway and then followed Doumeki down the hallway, careful not to ask where they were headed. After a few minutes, the man stopped at a door and slid it open. He beckoned for Yousuke to enter. Yousuke did so and turned around just in time to hear a "I'll be back" and the door closing.

The teen nodded to the door and turned around again to observe the room he was in. It looked like a guest room. Or maybe it was a bedroom. He didn't quite know. There was a closet with neatly folded futons stacked on the shelves; the floor had tatami mats, carefully arranged; the ceiling light was small and not turned on; the summer sun shone quietly through the paper sliding doors that led out to the outside.

He went to those doors and slid them open - it was getting a bit stuffy in the room. A small breeze blew his face and then disappeared behind him. The teen walked out onto the porch and sat down. It was similar to the store's back porch. There was a large tree a few paces away, its leaves rustling lightly when a bird flew by. Yousuke sighed into the air around him.

**o o o**

Watanuki patted Maru and Moro's head and said, "Will you take care of the store while I'm gone?"

The twins saluted in synchronization and yelled, "Of course, sir!"

"Thank you." He smiled.

"Have a safe nap," they said in unison. And they bowed.

"Thank you," he said as he lay down on the bed. He immediately felt drowsy.

Maru and Moro walked towards the door. "Be careful," they said, as they slid the door firmly shut.

"I will..." Watanuki said sleepily. "I will..."

**x x x**

When Watanuki opened his eyes, there was a blinding glare of sunlight. He squinted his eyes in the brightness of it, and tried to make them adjust. He heard the light rustle of leaves in a distance and then a heavy sigh.

Watanuki turned his head towards the sound and as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, he noticed that it was Yousuke. _What is he sighing about?_ he wondered.

The seer watched as Yousuke pulled his knees to himself and hug them, sighing yet again. Watanuki walked over to the teen and sat down next to him. Since Yousuke didn't have any spiritual ability, he couldn't see the seer. All the teen felt was a slight breeze next to him. Yousuke turned his head that way out of impulse and stared at where Watanuki's head was. Watanuki was about to think that Yousuke_ did_ have some kind of ability when Yousuke turned his head back and mumbled, "I wonder if KK is alright..."

Then, the room door slid open. There stood Doumeki, who had changed from his outside clothes into a gray-blue _hakama_. "Oi, are you ready..." Doumeki noticed Watanuki, who was see-through, like a ghost. Doumeki opened his mouth to say something but Watanuki put a finger to his lips.

Yousuke had heard Doumeki come in, so he had turned around but the man was looking somewhere other than himself. He was looking at something _next_ to him. He looked that way but there wasn't anything there. He looked at Doumeki again but his gaze was back on him. Doumeki asked, "Are you ready?"

"...Yes."

Mokona popped out from somewhere behind Doumeki and hopped onto the man's left shoulder. "Then, let's go~!"

Yousuke stood up and walked over to the doorway; Mokona hopped down onto Yousuke's shoulder and pointed in the direction in which the teen should walk to get to their destination. Mokona turned back to glance at Doumeki and the man gestured with his head into the room; Mokona nodded and left him alone.

From the doorway, Doumeki called over to Watanuki, who was now turned towards him, "So you ended up in my room. I thought you would end up in the kitchen or something."

Watanuki frowned. He said something but Doumeki couldn't hear it. Doumeki went over to the seer and kneeled in front of him. "Say that again."

The seer did, and this time, he said it slowly. Doumeki could only make out a few words from reading Watanuki's lips - he wasn't very good at it. _...Remember...because... ended up... often..._

"_I remember this room more because I ended up here more often than once_," was what Watanuki said. He looked at Doumeki to see if he understood. It didn't seem like he did since Doumeki just mumbled, "Whatever," and said, "Come on, we don't want to waste time." Doumeki got up for the door, his back turned on Watanuki.

"_If I ended up in the kitchen, you would have smirked at me_," said Watanuki.

At the door, Doumeki turned and said, "Did you say something?"

Watanuki shook his head. Doumeki eyed him for a second before saying, "Come on." The seer got up and followed him out the door with a little smile on his face.

**x x x**

"KK!" Yousuke ran over to his dog and hugged her gently. "I missed you so much... I feel like I haven't see you in years!"

Mokona giggled. "You love her a lot, don't you?"

"Of course." The teen let the dog slobber dog saliva all over his face. "She's my best friend."

"As the saying goes..."

The door opened and in came Doumeki... and Watanuki. As he followed the other man further into the room, he noticed that he had never been in this room before. It was large, with tatami mats covering the floor and with wood lining up on the walls like the other rooms in the temple, but this room had a different air to it. A _holy_ kind of air. A _pure_ kind of air. This was the purification room.

Watanuki looked at his hands. They looked more lighter than before. He felt like he was getting pulled apart too. He hugged himself to keep himself steady and in the room, but it was tiring. As expected of the purification room: it didn't want any other presences than that of a human (or animal) soul. He glanced at the dog, prancing around Yousuke. It looked like she was tired too; she was straining against collapsing from the exhaustion that_ being there_ was giving her, which was multiplied greatly by the being inside her. Mokona looked fine though. Maybe because the creature actually had a pure kind of soul.

Doumeki turned and looked at Watanuki, who stood so still you would have thought he was a statue. Doumeki knew Watanuki was trying to hold himself together; there was sweat on Watanuki's pale features. The seer caught Doumeki looking at him and stared back. Doumeki beckoned for Watanuki to come over to where he was. When Watanuki was close enough to him, Doumeki said, "Do you see that curtained seat over there? Go sit there."

Watanuki examined the side in which Doumeki was talking about and sure enough, there it was: a large cushion was placed in the center of two walls by the wall that connected the two side ones; a light blue curtain with fading gold streaks at the bottom hung from the two side walls, making a division between the cushion side of the room and the rest of the purification room. It was like the seat of an emperor - very royal... and very eye-catching.

As Watanuki walked reluctantly over to his seat, Yousuke caught sight of the covered wall. Doumeki came up to the teen and answered his unasked question, "That's _his_ seat."

Yousuke nodded, understanding. "Is he there right now?"

"Yeah."

Yousuke smiled. "That's good."

Through the curtain, Watanuki could see the rest of the room clearly as if there was no curtain in front of him at all. And sitting there with his feet tucked under him, he felt quite calm, unlike before in which there was a heavy pressure upon him. It was as if this secluded space was blocked from the holiness of the rest of the purification room just by one curtain. How useful. He was going to ask Doumeki later what kind of fabric the curtain was made of.

He watched as Doumeki guided the dog and the teen to the center of the room where the purification recital was to take place. There were five cushions placed in a circle about three feet away from a small water basin that lay in the center of the circle. Around the small water basin were _Shinsen_ (food offerings) and _Sake_ (rice wine) which were neatly placed on top of small shrines made out of bamboo.

After Doumeki told Yousuke to put KK into the water basin, he went over to the door that led to the outside and called in four _miko_ (shrine maidens). They seated themselves, two on each side of the basin. Doumeki seated himself on the cushion that allowed him to face Watanuki and the basin at the same time. The way the seats were arranged, it allowed Watanuki to watch the whole thing. Yousuke seated himself behind Doumeki, also facing the basin and Watanuki. Mokona sat near the curtain, his back to Watanuki. Mokona was the only one that could see and hear Watanuki clearly.

KK sat in the basin, getting her fur drenched from head to paws and nose to tail. A low hiss was heard and steam rose from the water. KK kept her face straight, trying to be brave. She looked over at Yousuke who was looking down at the floor. She barked once and he looked up at her and smiled sadly.

Doumeki raised a hand and all the _miko_ picked up the _Ōnusa_ (wooden wands used in rituals) that lay next to them and raised them. Doumeki lowered his hand and they began the purification. They waved the _Ōnusa_ from left to right in front of KK with their eyes closed and muttered prayers. Doumeki sat there and watched the dog, who looked confused but strong-willed at the same time.

No one, except the _miko_, said anything; they kept up with what they were doing - either watching or waiting, or both at the same time. After a few minutes of silence, KK began to whine. The room began to shake, but still, no one moved or said anything. Watanuki looked at the basin - the water did not move, despite the basin shaking violently with the room. "_The presence of a strong spirit is here..._" said Watanuki. Mokona nodded.

Yousuke was frightened but he bit his lip and kept still like everyone else. He turned his head to look at Doumeki. The man was looking at KK. The teen glanced at the dog. He was shocked to see that her eyes had rolled up as if possessed, and her hairs were standing at their ends, the water droplets sliding off them and hovering in the air. Suddenly, the basin broke and the water spilled out. The _miko_ kept up with their duties and Doumeki kept on watching the dog even as the water slid smoothly across the shaking floor and wet the knee part of his _hakama_.

KK barked loudly and in a flash, all of the _Ōnusa_ broke apart and the _miko_ fainted. The dog ate up the offerings and knocked the _Sake_ over, its contents spilling and mixing in with the purifying water. After its meal, the dog started growling at Doumeki. It barked again and the room stopped shaking.

"_**How dare you force me out...!**_" KK started toward Doumeki, still growling.

"_Mokona, do you see it?_" Watanuki asked the creature. Mokona nodded in answer.

Hovering above the dog was the faint appearance of a dog spirit. An_ inugami_. It looked similar to KK herself, but more menacing and scary, for the _inugami_'s teeth were more pointed and its tail looked less furry than it looked sharp.

"**_How dare you! You shall be punished!_**"

Before Watanuki could cry out a warning, the _inugami_'s tail slashed across Doumeki's chest. Yousuke, who was close enough to Doumeki to see why he had flinched, gasped. "Blood..!" He had not seen what had happened. But Doumeki did, through his shared eye with the seer. He had seen it all too late to react quickly.

As Yousuke kneeled next to Doumeki fussing about the wound, KK growled at the new presence. It started toward the teen but then it stopped a few inches away.

"**_What are you doing!_**" The spirit was talking to KK inside his conscience.

Yousuke watched in bewilderment as the dog had a self war with itself. The dog bit its paws, stomped and turned as if there was a fly buzzing around, and growled at something that wasn't there.

"_I've never heard of an _inugami_ residing in a dog... It usually possesses a human or takes a form of its own. What do you think, Mokona?_"

"KK must have met it somewhere and made a deal or something."

"_That is a possibility._" Then in a louder voice, Watanuki called to KK. "_Come here!_"

The dog stopped midway of biting its tail. It sniffed the air and turned towards Watanuki.

"_Yes. Come here._"

KK walked towards the seer, still possessed. She stopped right in front of the curtain. "_**What are you? Who are you?**_" the spirit asked. "**_I'll be a fool to pass this barrier, the strong being you are._**"

"_I'm nothing worth your stomach._"

"_**You really think so? If I ate you, I could become stronger and help this dog with what she wants me for as quick as a wink**_."

"_So she did make a deal with you._"

"_**Haha! Of course. What else would you expect? I would rather had possessed a human than this poor excuse of a canine!**_"

"_What did she want you to do?_"

"_**I'm not telling you that.**_"

"_Then, if I offer something of my own, will you succumb?_"

The dog licked its lips. "_**That would be handsome. What do you offer?**_"

Watanuki thought for a moment. "_How about my blood?_"

"Are you crazy?" Mokona cried.

The dog growled at Mokona. "_**Stay out of our business!**_"

Mokona hurriedly hopped over to where Yousuke and Doumeki was.

"**_Now... Where were we? Your blood? Why, that would be wonderful..._**" The dog licked its lips again. "**_If only you would come out here so I can have my gift..._**"

Watanuki got up from his seat and proceeded to leave the barrier area. Outside the curtain, the_ inugami_ gave an evil laugh. "**_It was smart of me to have come out. I'm getting such great offerings in one day!_**"

Just as the seer opened the curtain, the dog pounced on Watanuki. But unfortunately for the _inugami_, he had not noticed that Watanuki in the room was only the soul and not the vessel. He had pushed Watanuki down alright, but still, the dog's paws ended up going right through the seer's body and onto the floor.

"_**You tricked me!**_"

Watanuki gave a painful grin. It felt like his insides were being pulled apart from the dog on top of him and being half inside and half outside the barrier.

Suddenly, there was a whooshing sound from behind. The dog turned around just in time to see an arrow coming right at him. "**_No! Stop! Noooooo!_**" The arrow hit bullseye, right at the _inugami_'s heart. There was a piercing scream as the dog spirit dispersed into thin air. KK collapsed onto the floor when the cry faded away.

Yousuke looked from his dog to Doumeki, who had his archery bow in his hands. His chest heaved up and down from moving so quickly, and blood oozed slowly from his wounds. He fell down onto his butt and sighed heavily, the bow still in his hand. Yousuke opened his mouth to say something, but he clamped it shut and ran over to his dog.

He picked her up gently. "KK? KK? Can you hear me? KK?"

At first, she didn't move or make a sound and that made the teen panic. But after a few calls, the dog gave a low whine. A delighted laugh got stuck in Yousuke's throat and what came out instead was a sob. "Thank heavens... Thank heavens..."

Watanuki got up from the floor and stood smiling down at the touching scene in front of him. He then glanced over at Doumeki, who was in pain. He walked slowly to him, the pressure of the room falling upon him again. Mokona was by the archer's side and when Watanuki kneeled in front of Doumeki, he repeated what the seer was saying so Doumeki would not have to keep trying to read his lips.

"_Are you okay?_"

"I've been through worse."

"_...Make sure you get treated properly._"

"I know."

Watanuki reached out and placed his hand on Doumeki's bleeding chest. Doumeki felt a little warmth from where the hand was. "_Sorry I couldn't do anything..._"

"You did enough." Mokona had explained to him what was happening before he had gotten his bow.

"_But I got you hurt._"

"It always happens. Don't worry about it."

Watanuki frowned and took his hand away. "_Here I am apologizing sincerely and you're being tolerant. Complain a little, will you?_" _Since it's always my fault that you get hurt..._

Doumeki didn't say anything.

"_Fine. Be that way._" Watanuki got up and walked slowly away, back to where Yousuke and KK were.

Mokona looked at Doumeki worriedly and asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Ah."

Mokona patted his knee and then hopped over to the trio near the curtain.

"Is Watanuki-san still here?" Yousuke asked Mokona.

Mokona pointed at Watanuki. "He is."

Yousuke turned his head in Watanuki's direction and said with a big smile on his face and tears streaming down his cheeks, "I don't know exactly what happened but I can tell that KK has been cured. I thank you from the bottom of my heart." He lowered his head in a bow.

Watanuki smiled and patted Yousuke's head. Surprised, Yousuke looked up at the light touch. He gave a smile and said again, "Thank you."

Then, Mokona said, "Are you leaving now?"

"_Yes. It's hard to keep myself here._"

"I can see that." Watanuki was sweating again and he was trembling a little.

"_Are you going to stay here with him?_" Watanuki gestured to Doumeki, who was slowly heading for the door.

"Yeah. _Someone_ has to check up on him and _you_ can't, so _I_ have to."

"_Is that so?_"

Mokona nodded. "And I don't want to go back by myself."

Watanuki laughed. "_Then, I leave him up to you._"

"You can count on me!"

"_So I will._"

Yousuke had been watching Mokona talk to Watanuki, though it looked like the creature was talking to an imaginary being that was standing in the space in front of him. "Is he leaving?"

"Yeah, he is."

"Th-Then, um," Yousuke looked up into the air, "S-see you later?"

"_No._" Watanuki bent down and hugged Yousuke. "_It's 'goodbye'._"

Yousuke felt the warmth of Watanuki seep through him before it disappeared completely into the air. He hadn't heard Watanuki's words but even before Mokona had repeated what the seer had said, he had known his fate.

* * *

**Well well well. We're almost to the end.  
Are you happy you got a long chapter after this long while?  
****And guess what.** Me being the weird being I am, I'm listening to Christmas songs near the end of August** :P**


	10. The End

**A/N:** Last chapter. It's awful late too. But I can't really apologize anymore since I made no promises in the first place. I think. Now, go on and read. Also, please see the author's note at the bottom of this chapter. It's very important. Possibly to you (OF COURSE IT IS!). As a _Telephone_ reader. **~SEi**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC. CLAMP does.

**- - - - - - - - - - - - Ch10. The End**

When Watanuki opened his eyes, he was hoping to see the ceiling of his room but instead, he was looking into a heavy blanket of darkness that covered everything around him, except his own self. The 'dream' had not ended for him yet. There was something else that needed his attention before he would finally wake up.

Watanuki searched around him for whatever it was. But after a while of waiting, he still didn't see anything. He frowned, wondering: _Is there really something here?_ Just as he said that to himself did he hear a low bark from afar. He sighed and walked in the direction that he thought he heard it from. In no time, he came upon his guest.

"This is the first time in which I had to go meet the guest myself," the seer stated, folding his arms. He had a half-sigh, half-smile on his face.

"I apologize. It's just that I'm so tired both in figure and spirit that I couldn't muster enough strength to walk over to you," said KK, of whom was laying on the 'ground' and looking up at the host of the dream with apologetic eyes - a.k.a. puppy eyes.

With his arms still folded as if he were cold, Watanuki dropped down and sat on his heels to see her better as she lay unmoving. "It's alright. At least I heard you."

KK barked in agreement.

"So. Is something wrong? Is it so important that you had to come and break into my mind to form a second dream right after the first?" He asked, jokingly.

The dog took it seriously that she stood up on her four paws and answered: "It is, in fact, quite important."

Watanuki smiled at her reaction. "What is it then?"

She lowered her head to a bow (making it look like she was doing a cat stretch) and brought it back up just in time to see Watanuki's eyebrows fall back down from surprise. He laughed then and said, "Is that all?"

KK sat down. "That is all," she said, and she held her head up high.

Watanuki patted her head and said, "Of course, you're welcome." And then, he bent closer to hug her tightly as if she were a little neighbor kid who was awfully fond of him and followed him everywhere like a chick - you know what I mean. (The cuteness is contagious.)

Finally, the seer said, stifling a yawn: "I'm getting tired." He stood up to stretch and wait for KK to also say something.

"...I'm sorry. Thank you. And goodbye."

Watanuki smiled. "All three back at you."

**o o o**

Watanuki opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of his room. _Finally_. He sighed heavily. It was only late afternoon and he had plenty of stuff to do... but he stayed in bed. He was exhausted from the day's work plus the tiring double-dreams he had. His eyes were drooping and after sighing in relief to be back in reality, he closed them and slept a dreamless sleep.

**x x x**

It was morning by the time Watanuki had woken up again. Maru and Moro had come in in the evening before to check up on him but seeing that he was sleeping peacefully, they didn't bother to wake him up and now, they were on either side of his bed sleeping with their arms tucked beneath their heads.

Watanuki smiled and patted their heads. Some days in the store were hectic and unusual... but there were some days inwhich everything was as normal as a human's life could be. And those days were few. At least this morning was one of them. It meant that it was going to be a good day. He silently hoped that the 'normal' would last throughout the day.

Maru and Moro woke up when Watanuki tried to get out of bed quietly. They immediately started showering him with questions: "Did you sleep well?" "What did you see?" "Is KK ever going to come and play with us again?" "Where's Mokona?" and so on.

Watanuki just sighed and smiled. The twins looked at him with bright and eager eyes, waiting for answers. He said, "You'll see."

**o o o**

"Oh! You're finally awake!" Mokona called to Watanuki from where he sat on the kitchen counter holding a box of crackers. Maru and Moro ran to him from the seer's sides and welcomed him home.

Watanuki folded his arms and smiled at the scene and then his face turned into a forced smile with his eyebrow twitching when he moved his eyes a few feet to the right to where a figure in a yukata was trying to get some more food out of the cabinets.

"Oi. Where did you put the seaweed?"

Watanuki's eyebrow kept on twitching. "Don't call me 'oi'. And even if you keep searching, it's not there. I don't have anymore. You ate all of it the other day."

Doumeki's arms stopped in mid-air, thinking about that possibility. Then, he went on to search for something else. When he got it out, he closed the cabinet door and turned around to face Watanuki.

Watanuki noticed immediately a white bandage showing from the gap between where the yukata's folds intersected. His eyes moved up to Doumeki's face; Doumeki was busy stuffing his mouth with the snacks, and he was watching Mokona being taken away out the door by the twins. Probably so that they can torment him by asking the questions that Watanuki didn't answer.

"...Are you... are you okay?"

Doumeki turned his eyes to Watanuki before closing them. "Just fine." When he opened them, he had a smirk on his face. "You're worried about me?"

Watanuki turned away, avoiding eye contact. "O-O-Of course not!"

"Hn." Then, he muttered, "That's too bad."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Doumeki said, with his mouth full.

Watanuki glared at him. Doumeki walked out of the kitchen with his snacks in his hand and proceeded to go where the others were. Watanuki followed, wondering quietly about what to say to him the next time they were alone.

**o o o**

When Doumeki slid the door open to the outer yard, Maru and Moro looked up with sorrowful faces and ran to him. They cried, "Are you alright?" "Does it still hurt?" That meant that Mokona had told them both what had happened.

The questioned looked at Watanuki who gave him a look that meant: "Answer them," though he was a bit confused too since... _when did the twins get so close with him?_

So he did. "I'm fine, but..." He glanced at Watanuki again and grinned slyly. _He's up to something_, the seer thought as a frown formed on his face.

"What is it?" "Tell us!"

"... From blood loss... I'm really hungry..."

All eyes went to Watanuki. _I knew it..._ "Why are you looking at me for? Can't you just go back to your house and have your mom make you something?"

"She went out."

_Oh really_. "Well, I'm not making anything for you." He looked away. "You don't give me anything in return anyway."

Maru and Moro ran to Watanuki and pleaded: "Please! If he doesn't eat, he'll die!" "And if he dies, he won't be able to-!" They gasped and covered their mouths.

Watanuki gave them a look. "'_He won't be able to_' what?"

The twins glanced at each other and nodded. They uncovered their mouths and in unison, they said, "Then he won't be able to buy us a dollhouse!"

"Wh-WHAT?" The seer looked at Doumeki who stuck his tongue out. "S-Since when did-" _you two get interested in dolls?_

Mokona answered him. "Since the day that we got the TV."

Watanuki pointed his index finger at Doumeki. "So it's your fault!" It was Doumeki who had given the old TV to them since he had bought a new one.

"I'm hungry."

"Don't change the subject!" He was angry for some reason. It was as if Doumeki had stolen his two precious 'daughters'.

"Watanuki! Go make some food!" The twins pushed the growling Watanuki inside.

"No! Stop pushing me!"

**o o o**

"Are you happy now?" grumbled Watanuki to the mega-glutton who was eating - no, it was more like he was shoving food down his throat - beside him.

"Hn."

Watanuki watched as Doumeki ate. The way the food just disappeared off the plates and turned into little cells in a minute (or more) was enough to make Watanuki feel a bit sick and lose his appetite. But it reminded him a lot of his teenage days... Rather, the whole day reminded him of his teenage days.

It was already dinner time. The day had gone by so fast - mostly because he was cooking the whole time. Watanuki, at Doumeki's request, had made a feast. The reason? He didn't know of any. But he did it anyway, seeing how they were begging him with puppy-eyes (as for Doumeki, he gave a smirk).

After Mokona and the girls had finished their share of food, they went to the 'living room' to watch TV (and the quotations are there because the only 'living room' thing there was was the TV). And now, Doumeki and Watanuki were left alone to themselves again as Watanuki had predicted (kind of).

"How are you still eating?" cried Watanuki after some time. He gestured to the stack of bowls beside the man. "You're not human!"

"Hn."

"..." Watanuki glared at him. After a few minutes, he muttered, "You owe me now."

"I don't think so."

"What!"

"You were the one who owed me first. This," he held up his rice bowl, "is my payment."

"And _what_ is it that I owed you for?"

"...Picking up the kid... Purifying his dog... Driving him home..." Doumeki glanced at the seer who was biting his lip. "There are more-"

"Alright alright!" Watanuki put up his hand to stop him from saying anymore. "I get it." Then, he sighed. "Geez, I don't understand why you want a reward _now_, after all this time."

Doumeki stared at Watanuki with his golden eyes. _Why? I wonder why too_, he thought as he looked up at the sky of which the moon was beginning to be visible.

After a few minutes of silence, Doumeki said, "You know, that kid asked if I loved you."

Watanuki, who had been staring at his feet, looked up so quickly that the blood in his face changed from pink to red in an instant. "Wh-What!"

The golden-eyed man smirked. "You want to know what I answered?"

_Geez, what is this? Tease Watanuki Day?_ "O-Of course not. I-I don't care what y-you think."

"I said-"

"SHUT UP! I SAID '**NO**!'" Watanuki got up to go back inside but something... or _someone_ tugged at his kimono. He turned his head around and looked down. Doumeki was on his stomach, and his right hand was on the seer's kimono. "What. Are. You. Doing!" he yelled as he tried to pull his kimono back.

"Ow..."

The seer gasped and dropped to his knees immediately. He forgot that Doumeki was hurt. As he helped the other man get up into a sitting position, he said, "What's wrong with you? You shouldn't have-"

"Got you."

"Wh-Whoa!" Watanuki fell onto Doumeki's chest. "Wh-What are you doing?"

"It's the only way to speak to you."

"But you're hurt! Let go-!" Watanuki struggled out of Doumeki's embrace, pushing with his hands as gently as he could, away from the man's chest but Doumeki was strong and kept the smaller man near his chest. "Let-"

"I told him that I_ do_ love you." Doumeki's voice was right near his ear.

Watanuki froze. Then, looking away, he said, "I knew you'd take it the wrong way."

"You, too."

Watanuki's face felt hot. "I-I..." Suddenly, he felt something fall on his shoulder. He tried to turn his head to see what it was. It was Doumeki's head. Watanuki shook him. "H-Hey... are you... Hey!"

**x x x**

"Geez," Watanuki complained as he placed a wet towel on Doumeki's forehead. "This is what you get for eating so much and blabbering on unlike yourself and throwing yourself on the floor."

"What?"

"Nothing," the seer mumbled.

"..."

_This bastard! He can't remember anything that happened? Don't joke with me!_ Watanuki glared at Doumeki every time their eyes met - though he was a _little_ happy that Doumeki forgot. He knew he should be _very_ happy instead of a _little_ happy, but it was frustrating to know that what Doumeki said earlier was either truth or lies. It was a weird kind of frustration. Yup.

Doumeki watched as Watanuki made faces at no one in particular. "Heh."

"What was that!" Watanuki was ready to hit him for whatever he did.

"Nothing," he said, but he chuckled again.

"Hmph. I hope you forget this too when your fever's gone."

"Why?"

Watanuki muttered, "Because it's embarrassing..." And then in a louder voice, he changed the subject a bit: "This is the first time you've had a fever."

"No, I've always had fevers when I was younger."

"That's not what I meant."

"..."

The seer replaced the already-warm towel with a cold and wet one. "Go to sleep. I don't want you telling me to do stuff for you just because you're sick." He started to leave but there was a tug at his kimono - for the second time that night.

"Stay here."

"Why should I? I might get sick."

"You won't. It's not like I'm going to kiss you or anything."

Watanuki blushed. "Whatever. I'm leaving." He started to go again but Doumeki didn't let go. "Geezus! You're going to rip it!"

"Then stay."

Watanuki glared at him but then he sighed heavily and seated himself on the floor beside the couch. "Are you happy now?"

"..." Doumeki's eyes were already closed.

"It's not as if it's your birthday today, so you owe me another one."

Doumeki mumbled something in his sleep.

"What?"

"Then... I'll... give you... a kiss..."

Watanuki's heart stopped for a second. When it began beating again, it was in a furious pace. He stood up abruptly, tore Doumeki's hand from his kimono and stomped out the door. "In your dreams!" And he slammed the doors shut.

Doumeki smirked in his sleep.

**o o o**

"Is he trying to play with me? Hmph! I won't allow it!" He went down the hall and called out: "Mokona! Come out, Mokona!"

A door opened and the creature came out. "What is it?" he asked cheerfully. He and the twins had been watching their favorite cartoon show, _Utau Ningyo_*. It was a two-hour long special and it had just ended. "The girls are sleeping." He pointed to the sleeping figures in front of the TV.

"That's fine. Let's have a drink."

Mokona's eyes grew wide. "REALLY?"

"Yes. Come on." He walked towards the kitchen.

"But you-" _get drunk easily..._

"Doesn't matter!"

_I wonder what happened?_ wondered Mokona.

**o o o**

Through the night they drank. After only a few cups, Watanuki got drunk as Mokona told him he would. Mokona listened as Watanuki complained and ranted on about Doumeki. It was not a first. It happened quite a lot - even when the seer _wasn't_ drunk. Mokona commented on some of Watanuki's complaints, for example:

Watanuki would say, "He always eats so much!"

Mokona would reply, "He should. Where else does he get the energy to protect you?"

It was an amusing on/off conversation because Watanuki took Mokona's comments seriously and thought about them before ranting off again. And then, towards midnight, Watanuki recalled what had happened earlier on in the day and about Doumeki getting hurt.

"It's not your fault," said Mokona, for the umpteenth time.

"But I could have warned him!" Watanuki began rubbing his left eye. "If only this eye would work faster!"

"It's your other eye, Watanuki," sighed Mokona. He felt like some preacher from church and he felt like it was time to retire. "And you can't do anything about it."

"But I- But he-" Tears formed in his eyes. He lay down on his stomach and sobbed.

Mokona hopped over to the human's head and patted it. "It's alright. It's over and done. Can't do anything about it anymore."

"Mdsflkjdfjl..."

"It's alright." _Pat pat._

"Mdffdlfjljs..."

"It's alright." _Pat pat_.

"Mm..." And with that, Watanuki cried himself to sleep.

**o o o**

The next morning, Doumeki got up feeling refreshed as ever. He saw that he was still at the store. He went out to look for Watanuki and found him sleeping on the yard porch. Mokona was up and about somewhere. The morning was a cold one and the seer was only wearing a kimono. When Doumeki poked the seer, the seer sneezed and hugged himself.

"Oi. You're gonna catch a cold out here."

No answer.

So Doumeki picked the sleeping man up and brought him inside. Just as he placed Watanuki on the chair he had slept overnight on, he heard a ringing noise. _The phone?_ He looked at Watanuki and then in the direction of the phone and then back at Watanuki._ He can wait_, he thought, referring to the person on the phone. He began his duty of nursing Watanuki as Watanuki did last night and ignored the phone completely.

**o o o**

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

_Beeeep._

_We're sorry, the number you have reached is not in service at this time. Please check the number, or try your call again._

**FIN.**

**

* * *

A/N:** It's finished~ Finally! And now, for the exciting news!... **There's going to be MORE!** More what? More chapters of _Telephone_!

Since I don't want to rant on and on about it, go **read the post on my LJ**. Here's the END link for the post: **/48522(.)html**  
Just put** imposterable(.)livejournal(.)com** at the front and then paste that 'end' to the link. Otherwise, if it's not the top post of my LJ, look for it xD

*Remember to take out the parentheses!

There's more of my **AUTHOR'S NOTE** on the post, too, so go read it! :D **~SEi**


	11. YExP1: The Friend

**A/N:** This is the first (and ultra-mega late) extra! :D Hope you enjoy. **~SEi**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC. HOWEVER... most of these extras don't really have much to do with it. _Please do not steal my OCs, though they are really of no importance to me at all. (o_o;)_

**Note:** There are going to be Y-Extras, in which we read about the POV of Yousuke, as like this chapter. DW-Extras are, as you may guess, are DouWata extras related to this story.

**- - - - - - - - - - - Y-Extra. Part 1. The Friend**

_Ding~ Dong~_

The school bell rang long and low, stating the end of school for the day. Tanaka Jun ran over to his friend and classmate, Harufumi Yousuke's desk and said, "Hey, can I go over to your house today?"

"Hm? Why?"

"My sister is over today and I don't want to go home. You know how she acts. Anyway, it's almost the weekend so it should be no problem, right?"

"Mm... okay then." Yousuke slung his school bag over his shoulder and said, "Let's go, then."

"Ah." Jun stopped him. "Do you think I can... sleep over instead? I'm sure my mom won't mind." (Jun's mother knew that when her step-daughter came for a visit, they would fight constantly and they wouldn't stop until they were separated by about a street-long distance. And she knew why they fought. It was mostly her fault for marrying the man...)

"Sure, I guess."

"Thanks, man."

**o o o**

"So, what should we do?" Jun asked when they sat themselves down on Yousuke's room floor.

"I don't know. Play video games?" Yousuke suggested.

"Aiight."

They played and beat six video games in three hours and when Yousuke's mother called them from downstairs for dinner, Jun collapsed on the floor and said in a deadpan voice: "That was boring."

Yousuke, who was leaning against his bed, replied, "No kidding. We've been playing these games for years."

"You should get more games."

"I know. But my mom hasn't been giving me much of an allowance lately. I don't know why."

"Well, dude... Just ask her; it's not so hard." He got up without waiting for a reply. "Now let's go get dinner. I'm starving and my eyes feel like they're gonna fall out from staring at the TV screen for so long."

**o o o**

"Jun-kun, are you alright? You looked as if you were going to sleep on your dinner."

"Yes-Uh-No-Yes-No ma'am... I'm fine. Just fine." Jun rubbed his eyes and grinned.

"... If you say so..." Yousuke's mother began cleaning the table. When she headed for the sink, Yousuke looked at his friend and said, "You really don't look fine. Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"Sure! Why not? I even slept during math class and lunch."

"That's not really good..."

"You-chan's right, Jun-kun."

Startled, the boys looked at the middle-aged lady enter the dining room from the kitchen doorway. "You should go to sleep early."

"It's alright, Auntie."

"No, I insist. It must be your parents right? Fighting all-" She changed the subject quickly with a clap of her hands. "Oh, why don't you two go to the outdoor bath house and take a long hot bath? It'll be good for both your physical and mental health," she said as she pushed them out of the kitchen.

**o o o**

"Your mom is as weird as ever."

"Sorry."

"No worries, man!" Jun said, splashing his friend with hot water. "But man, she's _really_ weird. I mean, who takes _hot _baths_ outdoors_ in _someone's yard_ in the _summer_?"

"We're in a private bath house, Jun."

"I know." He leaned back against the side of the large tub and looked up at the ceiling. "Okay, so both your parents are weird. Whose dad would actually build their own private bath house in their own yard?"

"Mine would. But he can't help it. My dad's not fully Japanese."

"Yeah, I know." He yawned. "So where's your old man now?"

Yousuke thought for a few seconds. "He should be in Italy right now."

"For work or vacation?"

"Work, as always."

"Do you ever see him? 'Cause the only time I ever saw him was on your 14th birthday."

Yousuke looked toward the small window in the wall. "...Occasionally..."

There was a short silence before Jun interrupted it with the sound of splashing water as he got up and out of the tub, quickly putting the towel -that was on his head before- around his waist. "Come on out of there before you start getting dizzy."

Yousuke did as he was told. It was funny how they were at _his_ house but Jun was acting like it was his own. But it didn't really matter. He was fine either way.

As Jun put his clothes on in the small room that was attached to the large bath house, he called to Yousuke: "Hey, do you have some ice-cream?"

**o o o**

"Psst," whispered Jun. "Are you sleeping yet?"

"No..." answered Yousuke, suppressing a yawn. He turned around in his bed to look down at his friend who was looking up at him from his futon. "What's up?"

"Can't sleep. I think the ice-cream made me hyper."

Yousuke rolled his eyes and sighed. He was really sleepy. The hum of the air conditioner was making him drowsy, too. "Try to save that energy somewhere in your brain or heart or muscles or whatever... for tomorrow."

"Yeah, man. I'll do that."

After a few minutes, he asked, "What're we gonna do tomorrow?"

"Hmm..." Yousuke closed his eyes. "We can go to the park and play some basketball with the other guys."

"Yeah. Good idea. Goodnight, man."

Yousuke mumbled a reply.

**x x x**

The next morning, when the boys got up from their sleep, they heard something tapping on the window. Yousuke pulled open the curtains and found the window pane wet as if someone had splashed a bucket of water on it.

It was raining.

* * *

**Well, that was kinda obvious.** Comments? Thoughts? Review, dear reader.

And here's a random xxxHOLiC question:  
**Since Watanuki's often referred to as a 'cat'... what do you think he thinks about cats? Does he like them? Or does he hate them? :O**


	12. YExP2: The Idea

**A/N:** This is the second extra! :D Hope you enjoy. **~SEi**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC, though this chapter is not related to it JUST YET.

**- - - - - - - - - - - Y-Extra. Part 2. The Idea**

"Oh man... _Now_ what do we do?" He began whining: "It's raining outside so we can't go hang out; we're already bored of the video games; it's a Saturday so not much on TV; your mom's gone out so she can't drive us anywhere..." Jun smacked his head and lay down on his still-laid-out futon. "Ugh..."

Suddenly, they heard a low scratching sound at the door. Yousuke went to open it and found his dog, KK, looking up at him. "KK! You're back!" he exclaimed, and hugged her.

Jun rolled over. "Hey, missy dog, how ya been? Where were you yesterday?" He asked the questions as if the dog was going to actually answer back.

"KK went to Grandma S' house. Mom sent her there because there's been something wrong with KK lately and we don't know what it is."

"Aha. Your grandma's a spiritualist, isn't she?"

"Yeah."

"Quite famous, that old lady," Jun said, thoughtfully. Then, he asked, "Did she say anything?"

Yousuke looked at KK and found something white in the little pouch that the dog loved to carry around. He opened it and took it out; it was a letter from his grandma. The letter contained only a few words (as Grandma S always seemed to have): "There is an inner dog."

Jun, who was sitting by Yousuke's side now, looked at it and said, "That doesn't explain much." He eyed KK. "Is she pregnant?"

"That's unlikely. Most of the dogs around the neighborhood are females." Yousuke rolled his eyes when Jun made a face. "Don't get weird ideas." KK barked in agreement. "Anyway, the vet would have told me so when we took her for a checkup last week."

"What did the vet say?"

"... He's got no idea what she has."

"So it's a disease?"

"That's what we think. But we can't seem to find a cure anywhere..."

"... Even in Italy?"

Yousuke stared at Jun, who stared back at him. Yousuke then looked at KK and ruffled her ears. "He sent a letter a few days ago stating that no one there knew anything either."

"I see..."

**o o o**

"_SHIT!_ I'M SO FRIGGIN' BORED!" yelled Jun.

"Sorry."

"Geez, man, you gotta stop apologizing for things you don't need to apologize for."

"Sorry."

"..."

Yousuke continued examining his dog (out of boredom) and let the silence flow back and forth in the air. Suddenly, he heard Jun talking to himself:

"Hey yo, wassup doc? Hey yo, wassup man? How you feeling man? I'm feeling fine, yo. Whaddabout you, man? You good? Yeah, definitely, man. I feel like there's pigs flying in the sky and cows are jumping over the moon and-"

"Jun."

"Hum?" Jun looked tiredly over at his friend, whose hands were half in and half out of KK's mouth.

"Are you... sick or something?"

"I'm fine!" He forced a laugh. "How 'bout you? Did you find anything?"

"Nothing that the vet didn't show me..."

They both sighed.

All of sudden, the loud ring of the phone went off. It was so loud, they jumped in their seats. Jun ran to get it since KK had accidentally bit down on Yousuke's fingers when the phone rang.

"Hello? Uh... really? Great, man. No. No. I said 'no', man. Give it up. What? _No!_ Chill _out_! I said 'no' and so the answer is '_no_'!" He slammed the phone down and frowned.

"Who was it?"

Jun walked back to his seat on the bed. "No one, really. Just some random 'Congratulations! You're a winner!' man."

"I see."

"He was asking for your address so he could send the prize money. Really persistent guy. Haa. What a laugh."

"Yup."

But neither of them laughed. Jun resumed staring at the drops of rain collide into each other and slide down the window pane, and Yousuke continued examining KK after he bandaged his fingers.

And then, as sudden as the phone call before, Jun jumped up and said, "I got an idea!"

This time, Yousuke's hands weren't in KK's mouth. He turned to look at his friend and asked, "What for?"

"To get rid of our boredom."

"... What is it?"

Jun grinned from ear to ear. "Let's do a prank call."

**o o o**

"Are you sure about this?" asked Yousuke as Jun dialed a random number on the phone.

"Sure! Why not?"

"I don't know. It seems... I don't know... weird..." He looked on as Jun continued pressing numbers. "Are you sure that's a real number? I don't know any that starts with XXX..."

"Doesn't matter; it's part of the fun. And you know what'll be more fun?"

"What?"

"_You'll_ do the talking!"

Yousuke jumped back and for some reason, lowered to a whisper: "Are you crazy?"

Jun copied him and whispered back, "I might be. Who knows?" And he handed the phone to the already-panicking teenager who pushed it away. Jun tried to hand him him the phone again but Yousuke pushed it away again. They did this for a few minutes when a voice from the other line asked, "Hello?"

* * *

**And it begins! Again. Lol.**


	13. YExP3: The Call

**A/N:** This is the third Yousuke-extra! Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as eating pudding. xD **~SEi**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC! :O (Yes, that means Watanuki is in here. Though you might not really think so..?)

**- - - - - - - - - - - Y-Extra. Part 3. The Call**

"Holy_ shit_, someone actually answered!" exclaimed Jun in a low voice, even though it was more like a question.

There was a short silence from the receiver before the receiver asked: "May I help you in anyway?"

Yousuke had been holding the phone away from him as if it was stinky but when he heard the question being asked, he put it to his ear. "Huh? ...Oh, uh... who is this?"

Jun turned his head towards the slightly open door. He had heard sounds from downstairs; it meant Yousuke's mom was home... and at the moment, she was calling for her son. Jun tried to get his friend's attention but Yousuke was looking the other way, listening intently to the phone.

"Oh that's true," he was saying. "Uh, I'm.. uh..." He looked around his room and his eyes landed on KK's chewable duck toy. "Pipipo Yellow!" KK looked at her toy at the mention of its name.

Jun had been tapping Yousuke's shoulder for a while now but Yousuke payed him no attention. He stopped when Yousuke's mother shouted her son's full name in a loud and clear voice. Jun looked at Yousuke for a reaction.

"Oh shi-"

Jun raised an eyebrow.

"Uh..."

Yousuke covered the microphone part of the phone with a hand and gave Jun a credulous look. Then, towards the door he yelled "I'll be down in a few minutes!" as an answer to his mother.

He turned back towards the phone and began with, "Uh... You... H-How do you know my name? Who... who are you?"

Jun, listening to Yousuke's words, nodded with wide eyes and began to play with KK who had crawled into her owner's lap. Yousuke, quite absorbed into the 'prank call', didn't notice her light touch.

"What?" he asked into the receiver. Jun noticed that Yousuke's face seemed to turn blue and red at the same time. "I-I-I don't know w-what you're talking about. I d-don't have a wish. This was just-" _a prank call that I wanted to have nothing about!_

But he stopped mid-sentence when the receiver said something. Then, his face turned back to his normal color and he said calmly: "Alright, I give up. I'll tell you."

"'Tell you' what?" whispered Jun. He wanted _in_ in the conversation. He crawled over to Yousuke's side and put his ear to the receiver to follow along. Yousuke said: "I want a dog. I've been lonely lately and I want a dog as a friend."

KK lifted her head slightly while Jun raised his eyebrows, quite surprised that Yousuke could lie so calmly. But what he heard as a reply from the receiver amazed him even more: "...But you already have a dog. She's lying on your lap right now, isn't she?"

Yousuke looked down and gasped. He tried to shove his dog off, causing her to bark in protest and then whimper from not being able to be near him. She jumped onto the bed and lay down, sulking.

Yousuke resumed his conversation. "Th-Th-Th-That.. uh..." He didn't know what to say. Jun laughed silently to himself at how much trouble Yousuke was having after failing at lying.

"You're not taking me seriously, are you, Yousuke-kun?" asked the man.

"I-I _am_ taking you seriously!" Yousuke swung in arm to emphasize it, hitting Jun in the head by accident.

Jun comforted his head but kept on listening as the man kept up the conversation. He sounded as persistent as the "Congratulations!" man before. Yousuke sounded determined in his answer(s) too... as if he was hiding something. He sounded frightened too. It also seemed like he was in his own world.

Jun was in his own world of thoughts and before he knew it, the prank call was ending.

"Goodbye then," said the man.

"But I-"

The tone of a dead phone call went off. Yousuke hung up as well and sighed.

Jun looked at him and asked, "But you _what_?"

Yousuke jumped slightly, as if startled, and answered: "He said to call back but I don't know his number!"

"Haha, I know right. I just randomly pressed numbers..."

"Exactly!"

"Well. At least it was interesting. You don't have to call him back. You don't even know him."

"But he-"

"Dude. _Relax_. It was just a prank. You're acting like you're gonna die if you don't call him back."

Yousuke turned pale and red at the same time.

Jun raised his eyebrows and then pointed at the door: "Your mom was calling, remember? What do you think she wants?"

Yousuke looked blankly at his friend for a minute before heading out the door and down the stairs to where his mom was waiting patiently for his arrival.

* * *

**Okay. There's gonna be three more Yousuke-extras...  
**and then we're finally going to be going into the DouWata-extras! :D


	14. YExP4: The Number

**A/N:** The fourth Y-Extra! :O Two more to go! Man. This is tiring. **~SEi**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC.

**- - - - - - - - - - - Y-Extra. Part 4. The Number**

"Oh. You're back. What did your mom- Ohmygod, are those _crêpes?_!"

Yousuke placed the tray down beside Jun who had begun reading a manga book on the floor when he had gotten bored of waiting around and doing nothing.

"My mom got them when she went shopping. She said they were having a sale."

"I could see that," said Jun, drooling.

There were two plates on the tray with four dessert crêpes on each of them. Each crêpe had a different filling in it. Jun took a strawberry cream one from a plate and bit into it. When he swallowed, he said, "Mmm-mm-mm! I haven't had a crêpe since... like, forever!" And bit into it again, this time savoring the taste.

Yousuke seated himself across from his friend and smiled at his remark.

"Okay, I take back what I said about her being weird. She's the best. She must have thought that since it's a rainy day, we wouldn-" He cut himself off when he looked at Yousuke's face. "What's wrong? You look down."

Yousuke forced a smile. "Nothing really."

Jun eyed his friend, the crêpe still in his hands. "Are you still thinking about that prank call from before?"

"..." Yousuke pulled his knees towards his chest. "Maybe..."

"You should give up on it. It was just a joke." He bit into his crêpe and then stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. When he chewed, swallowed and reached for another one, he said: "But if you're so giddy about it, then call him back."

"That's exactly the problem!"

"Mm?" Jun was halfway into his second crêpe.

"When we prank-called him, you dialed random numbers and the call reached him. I said, _random_ numbers! _RANDOM NUMBERS!_" Yousuke threw up his hands in exasperation.

Jun shrunk back. "Geez, man, what's gotten into you? Did he say something to you that makes you want to call him back?"

The green-eyed one froze.

Jun nodded to himself. "I see, I see." He gobbled up the rest of his crêpe and stood up. Swallowing, he dramatically pointed a finger at Yousuke and said, "Don't worry, man! They weren't just random numbers."

Yousuke eyed his friend. "What do you mean?"

"Actually, I put in my birthday, favorite number and stuff like that..."

Yousuke's mouth dropped open. "Are you serious_?_! And i-it just... miraculously ended up as a real phone number?"

"Well, man, I _am_ a lucky guy." Jun scratched the back of his head shyly.

"Then punch those numbers in right now!" Yousuke grabbed the phone and handed it to Jun.

"Whoa, whoa," said Jun, pushing the phone away. "You mixes are so impatient."

Yousuke frowned.

"And first of all, I don't remember the order in which I put them in."

"..."

"Geez, man. You have a baby face but your face right now is really scary. I need to go take a piss." He started to leave.

"Wait!" Yousuke grabbed his arm. "Give me the numbers that you used." He handed him a piece of paper and a pen.

"Alright, alright. Relax." Jun quickly wrote down his birthday's month and day, his favorite number, the price of his favorite game and the date. He handed it back to his friend and rushed out the door.

**x x x**

"I'm back. Did I miss anything?" Jun looked at his friend who was sitting on his bed with KK snoozing on his lap.

"Oh. Welcome back. I just finished." Yousuke looked at the tray that Jun was holding.

Jun noticed his gaze and said, "When I came out of the bathroom, your mom told me to bring some tea up here." He sighed. "It took quite a long time..."

"Yeah, I know. She never was good at making or pouring tea." He took a cup and sipped it slowly because it had a weird pinch of something in it.

Jun did the same and then asked, "So? What did I miss?"

"He's going to pick me up."

Jun choked on his tea. "WHAT_?_!"

"Well, actually, someone else is."

"Y-Y-You! You gave a stranger your address_?_!"

Yousuke looked down into his cup of tea. "I did..."

"Are you serious_?_!" Jun smacked his forehead. "Damn it. I shouldn't have given you those numbers..."

Yousuke grabbed his friend's arm and tugged on it. "_Juuun!_ I'm _desperate_ here! KK's sick and if I don't do _something_, she's going to die! And I don't want that..."

"Okay, okay. Calm down." He wiped his friend's tears with his sleeve. "Geez. I always wonder if you're really seventeen."

Yousuke frowned but loosened his grip on his friend's arm.

"So? When is he coming?"

"...Tomorrow..."

Jun's eyebrow twitched. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"...Do you think I'll be able to come?"

"Ah. You can't."

"What do you mean? Is he like a pervert or something? Wants you to go alone and all." He began mumbling to himself.

"What are you? My father?" Yousuke waited until his friend's mouth stopped. "Anyway... While I was in the middle of calling him, your mom called and said that you need to go home tomorrow."

"_WHAT?_! Why now_?_!"

"She said it's important."

"Everything's important to her. Even garbage."

"No, no. I think she's serious about this, Jun. She sounded like she was going to cry while she was talking to me."

Jun sighed. "Fine. Fine. But she's always been like that."

"That's true. But that's more of a reason why you need to be there for her like you've been before she remarried."

"..." Jun stared at his friend. "_Now_ you sound like a seventeen-year-old."

Yousuke smacked him.

* * *

**Is it done yet? _No it's not._ Just one more to go. _And then it's DouWata time!_**

**_Oh, and Happy Halloween! :D_**


	15. YExP5: The Man

**A/N:** Okay. Here's the second to last chapter. Enjoy.** ~SEi**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC. And I mean it this time.

**- - - - - - - - - - - - Y-Extra. Part 5. The Man**

_Ding! Dong!_

"I'll get it!" yelled Yousuke to his mom who was busy putting clothes into the washing machine. Before Yousuke went to open the door, Jun said, "It must be him, right?"

Yousuke nodded and looked at the clock. It was exactly 8 in the morning. _How weird._

"Stop dawdling. He's waiting." Jun folded his arms. "I am, too."

Yousuke gave his friend a look and walked to the door, yelling, "Coming!" even though the visitor didn't ring the door another time after his first. Jun followed silently behind.

At the doorway, Yousuke took a deep breath as he unlocked the door and turned the doorknob. He exhaled as he swung the door open. The morning sunshine poured in and a light breeze rustled the hair of Yousuke's visitor.

"I'm here to pick you up."

Yousuke stared up at the man who spoke. He didn't notice Jun come up from behind and say, "Yep, he's here." before walking away.

In an instant, Yousuke stuttered out, "W-welcome! I'll be ready i-in a f-few minutes... F-For the moment, p-please come in..." He moved away for the man to come in.

"Pardon my intrusion," said the man as he stepped in. He took off his shoes and politely waited until the dazed Yousuke closed the door. Yousuke led him to the living room and had him sit down on the couch with Jun as he went upstairs to get himself and KK ready for their trip.

Jun, who was beginning to feel uncomfortable, said, "So... are you a uni student?"

"Ah."

Silence.

"...What major are you in?"

"Medics."

"That's cool."

Silence.

"...Did you come here by car?"

"Ah."

Silence.

_It's really hard to talk to this guy!_ thought Jun, clenching his fist.

Fortunately... or unfortunately for him, Yousuke's mother came in. "Oh my, what a handsome man! Are you here to pick up Jun?"

_Oh damn it! Yousuke, you told her about me leaving but you forgot to tell her about him!_ "U-Uh, yeah! He is," Jun lied.

"Is that so? That's good." To the man (Doumeki), she asked, "Are you a relative of his? You don't look related..."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'm not a relative of his."

She laughed to herself and said, "What a nice gentleman." At this point, Yousuke came bounding down the stairs with KK in his arms. "Oh? You-chan? What are you all dressed up for?"

Yousuke looked at his mother and then at Jun, pleading with a poker face: "_Help me!_"

"O-Oh!" Jun came to the rescue. "Auntie, Yousuke forgot to tell you yesterday.. Uh, he's coming over to my house today." (Note from the author: Lying is bad...!)

"Is that so? That's wonderful then!" She turned to her son and said, "It's been a while since you went there, hasn't it?"

Yousuke nodded, not daring to say anything just in case his guilt began spilling out of his mouth.

"Well, hurry along then!" She said, ushering them towards and out the door. "I've got a lot of chores to do and... Oh! You-chan, did you take your cellphone?"

Yousuke nodded and showed his mother the electronic.

She smiled and said, "Then, have a great time!"

**x x x**

It was only a few minutes before Jun got out of the car. He said his goodbye and a "Be careful" before he turned and walked towards his house.

When they started driving towards their real destination, there was nothing but silence in the car. After they left Yousuke's hometown area though, Doumeki turned on the radio.

_...There are bends in the road at the top of the hill, but I want to go further..._

_(Sittin' in the silence...)_

_...Beyond the scenery that exists only in music..._

_(It's just too dark to see...)_

_

* * *

_**Huu-huu. So tired. I'm rushing through the Y-Extras at this point.  
**Even though I'm rushing, I'm still having a hard time and is forcing my sister to open the door to give candy to them peoples.

Last four lines is part of the lyrics of: **Dreamscapeby FICTIONJUNCTION ft. Kaori **(insert song from _Tsubasa R. Chronicles_)  
_I find it amazing how the music I'm listening to atm on my iPod fits the part I'm writing about. _


	16. YExP6: The Last Call

**A/N: **FINALLY. Here's the last Y-Extra! It's not really long, so you can just skim through it and that's all there is to it! And after this chapter, I'm not going to update the DouWata ones until later. Some...day. Cuz I need to be in some kind of festivity today, right? **~SEi**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC.

**- - - - - - - - - - - - Y-Extra. Part 6. The Last Call**

"Hey!"

Yousuke turned his head to see Jun running down the school hallway with three packs of bread in his arms. "Jun."

When Jun caught his breath, he asked, "So how was it?"

"How was what? The test?"

Jun rolled his eyes. "You know...yesterday... the guy and all..."

"Oh. Uh..." Yousuke looked around and then suddenly grabbing his friend's arm, he dragged him towards an empty classroom.

"Whoa, dude. Do we have to-?"

"I'm just being cautious."

"Of what?"

"...I don't know. I just don't want anyone to hear."

"Why?"

_(After a few seconds...)_

"Is it supposed to be like... so secretive or something that we have to hide under these desks? I can't really fit..."

"Sorry. But you're really tall."

"That's not the point..." mumbled Jun.

"Anyway. KK got cured."

"What_?_!" _Bam!_ "Ow... I mean, how?"

"We did a purification ceremony."

"Huh?"

"You know that guy who came to pick me up?" Jun nodded and Yousuke continued, "He's apparently... um... what do you call those people...? Uh... his family owns a temple."

"I see. So KK really did have an '_inner dog'_ as your grandma said."

Yousuke nodded. "And you know? The guy who we prank-called? He..."

Jun nodded, waiting for Yousuke to continue, but he didn't. "What? He _what_?"

Yousuke had a frown and a worried look on his face. "Hmm..."

"Yousuke...?"

Finally, the green-eyed one spoke up. "You know, I really do love you and all, Jun, but I think I should keep this one to myself."

After a few seconds of silence, Yousuke looked up at his friend. "Jun?...What's wrong_?_! You're beet red!"

"I-It's nothing..." Jun said, patting his face. "It's just getting really hot under here..."

"Oh, sorry. Then I guess we should get out."

"Yeah.. we should..."

**x x x After School.**

Yousuke plopped himself on his bed and sighed. "I forgot to tell Jun about the number..." he said aloud to himself. _I guess I'll call him right now..._

He reached for the phone and just before dialing Jun's number, he thought to himself: _Maybe I just forgot the combination. Let's try again._

After ten attempts, he gave up. _It's not working... None of them connect._ He looked out the window at the sun that was beginning to set. _I'll try again tomorrow..._

**x x x Next Morning.**

"Come on now, You-chan! You're going to be late!"

"I'm hurrying!" Yousuke buttoned his shirt and tied his tie and looked himself in the mirror. _All good._ Then, he looked down at the phone on his dresser.

He glanced at the clock. He could waste just another few minutes...

He dialed a combination of numbers and waited. This time, he heard a ringing sound, which meant that it connected. But after a few minutes, the answering machine picked up.

"_We're sorry, the number you have reached is not in service at this time. Please check the number, or try your call again._"

"You-chan!"

"Coming!" He put the receiver back and sighed. "Oh well. At least I did say my thank you's and goodbyes. Right, KK?"

KK, sitting on Yousuke's bed, barked in reply.

"Well, I'm leaving." He kissed her head as he'd been doing every morning after that interesting experience. "See you later!"

**x x x**

_Playing "thank you" again and again, even though we're far apart..._

_Waving hands "goodbye", let's meet here again..._

_Waving hands "goodbye", let's meet here again..._

_...I want to meet you again..._

**TBC...**

**

* * *

**

**To be continued? Maybe not. I don't think I can write anymore of Yousuke =_=;  
**Also, that quick under-the-desk 'romance'? I typed it cuz I was beginning to lose my mind from hunger but I'm gonna leave it because I find it funny.

Also... I wanted to add those 'concluding' lyrics just because I wanted to. Lyrics from** Arigatou** by **_Bon'z_ **(ending song of _Kyou Kara Maou!_)

******AND FROM NOW ON ARE...**  
DouWata Extras ~ 4 total.


	17. DWE1: The Queries

**A/N:** So here's the first DouWata extra of the 4. It's late because I couldn't seem to remember what I wanted to write... **~SEi**

***Note:** This takes place before Chapter One.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC, or the characters involved.

**- - - - - - - - - - - - D/W-Extra 1. The Queries**

Doumeki stared at the large paper on the bulletin board and tried to make sense of it. In bold letters at the top, beneath the university's logo, name, and information, it said: "**Important Notice**". Underneath that were the words: "Due to various reported incidents that occurred in the bathrooms of all floors, there will be no classes during the week of XX."

Uni students stopped next to him and then walked away after briefly glancing at the official notice and at what it stated. Doumeki just stood there, with a straight face on, wondering why the uni would be closed for a week just because of the bathrooms. So far as he saw it, there was nothing wrong with the bathrooms. Did the uni just want to make an excuse for renovating them bathrooms that always seemed so holy-like in color and material?

But anyway. Doumeki recorded the date into his mind and then walked slowly down the hall towards the stairs. Other students and professors who knew Doumeki said goodbye to him as he passed by. He nodded to each of them as a reply. He went downstairs to the lounge and searched for his major professor. When he saw him seated by himself near one of the wall-wide windows in the lounge, he went over to him and seated himself across from his professor.

"Have you ever been to the Imperial Palace, Doumeki?" asked the old man, not glancing up from his magazine. Without getting an answer, the professor continued, "I've been there many times and each time I go, there's always something that I didn't see the last time I went."

Doumeki looked at the magazine and though it was upside down, he observed, by the many photographs, that it was a travel magazine of Japan's many historic sites.

Finally, the old man looked up at his assistant. "So, Doumeki. Do you have plans for next week?"

"I don't know," answered Doumeki. He hadn't thought that far, after seeing the notice about five minutes ago.

"Is that so?" Doumeki's professor looked down at his magazine again. "I'm planning to go to the XX Temple with my wife. She loves to go to temples for some reason." He paused and then looked Doumeki in the eye. "By the way, have you got a girlfriend?"

_What?_ "...No, sir."

The professor laughed. "Then you better get one before all the good ones are gone!"

"...Yes, sir..."

The old man flipped to the next page and was silent for a few minutes. "Then have you got an important person in your life?"

Doumeki took a few seconds to think about it. Then, he said, "I do."

The professor smiled. "Then how about inviting that important person to go somewhere next week?" He didn't get an answer, so he said, "Think about it then. I'm sure she or he will be really happy."

**x x x**

"What are these?" asked Watanuki, gesturing at the stack of magazines that Doumeki had just placed beside him on the porch.

"Travel magazines," Doumeki answered.

"I can see that. What do you want me to do? Look through them?"

"That's what magazines are for."

Watanuki frowned. "What's the point when I can't leave the store?" Despite saying that, he took the top one and stared at the cover. "You're going to make me regret my life-long decision after one page."

Doumeki took a magazine and absentmindedly flipped through it. "Too bad you can't undo it."

Watanuki grew mad. He stood up and threw the magazine at Doumeki. "What else could I have wished for then_?_!" He turned and opened the door to head inside. As he did, Mokona came hopping out. With Watanuki gone, the air was still and heavy.

"What happened?" asked Mokona.

Doumeki shrugged and put the magazine that Watanuki threw at him back in the pile.

* * *

**Basically, I'm just filling in the 'missing pieces' of the story with these extras.  
**And tomorrow (15th) is my birthday! :D Jolly, jolly.


	18. DWE2: The Pain

**A/N:** Ugh. Sorry for the long wait. It's been like two months. My excuses are on my profile. Enjoy the second DouWata extra! **~SEi**

***Note:** This takes place after Ch9 "The Middle" and before Ch10 "The End". So basically.. "The Middle-End"! :D Also, we're focusing on Doumeki, Mokona and Yousuke back at the temple… Watanuki is not present in this chapter - since he's asleep - but he will be mentioned, therefore making it a half DouWata extra. Whatever that may be. Oh, and Haruka's here ~

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC, or the characters involved.

**- - - - - - - - - - - D/W-Extra 2. The Pain**

After Watanuki left and the _mikos_ woke up and started cleaning up the mess, Doumeki collapsed against a wall and sighed. Yousuke, who had been trying to help the _mikos_ clean but kept being denied, went over to Doumeki whose head was turned toward the ceiling with one hand over his eyes.

"Are you alright, Doumeki-san?" He asked, kneeling in front of him.

Doumeki grunted a reply. He was too tired to talk. After a few seconds of silence and fidgeting, Yousuke stated, "I'm going to get the first aid kit." Without asking where it was, he walked out of the large room.

While Doumeki waited for the teenager to come back, he focused his thoughts on what happened. Taking his hand off his eyes and placing it on his bleeding chest, he stared at the ceiling as if his memories would play like a film on the flat, bare surface.

The only thing that came to mind was Watanuki's horrified face before and after the _inugami_ attacked. Watanuki's mouth was in a wide O-shape as if he was going to say something; his bi-colored eyes were full of shock and pain; and his eyebrows slanted on both sides like he was about to cry. But after coming out of a brief on-off daze, Watanuki's face was angry and serious again.

_Since when can he change his emotions so quickly? He used to be able so readable, it was funny._ Doumeki chuckled lightly to himself at the memory but the pain in his chest rose dramatically, causing him to cough a little blood up. Mokona hopped over to him then and said, "You should probably go to a doctor or something."

"And say what to him? That a spirit attacked me?" he scoffed.

Mokona looked worriedly at him, but didn't say anything more. After a few minutes, he asked, "Where's Yousuke-kun with the first aid kit? It's been a long time…"

"He probably... got lost," said Doumeki, a little tiredly. Losing so much blood as seconds ticked by was making him drowsy. Even though he got hurt often because of the "jobs" that Watanuki had to do, it seemed that his body still wasn't used to it.

"…It's been… a long time…" Doumeki mumbled aloud. And then he started chuckling loudly to himself, causing more bloody coughs.

Mokona hopped onto his lap between one coughing fit. "Doumeki_?_! Are you losing your mind_?_! Snap out of it!"

When Yousuke finally barged in with the first aid kit in his hands and a loud "I finally found it!", Doumeki collapsed on his side and slowly closed his eyes. He heard voices yelling around him but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

_I'm so tired…_

**o o o**

Maybe it was because he missed his grandfather at the moment or maybe it was because he was near death, but when Doumeki opened his eyes again, Doumeki Haruka was sitting by him with his usual air of peace and calmness. Even though Haruka looked like an exact copy of himself, he knew it was his grandfather. Maybe because of the incense smell that lingered around the man?

And that was when Doumeki noticed he wasn't in the purification room: he was now out on the walkway outside his bedroom. He was leaning against one of the supporting-poles outside, with his legs spread out in front of him. _Is this a dream?_ he wondered.

He tried to sit up straighter but a sharp pain in his bandaged chest caused him to fall back down. _Isn't it supposed to _not_ hurt in a dream?_ Doumeki gave a grunt as he touched his chest lightly. He heard a chuckle and looked up. His grandfather's eyes were on him.

"I bet that hurt. An _inugami_, right?"

Doumeki nodded. "It doesn't really hurt anymore…"

Haruka laughed, knowing his grandson was lying. But he dropped the topic and said, "How's Watanuki-kun? I've been too busy to see him."

Doumeki wasn't surprised to hear that his grandfather was visiting Watanuki often in his dreams, even though it surprised him that he would end up in one of his own dreams. "He's fine... but busy,... too." Doumeki wondered what there was to be busy about in the other world. He didn't ask aloud.

"Another customer, I presume?"

The "younger" of the two nodded and he told his grandfather about the past two days. When he finished, Haruka was smiling. "As expected of Watanuki. Taking the oddest wishes and making them come true."

Doumeki nodded and then, didn't say a word. He stared off into the space in front of him and let the air fill with a time-slowing silence.

Haruka knew that Doumeki was worried about something - he could feel it in the air. Rather, since Doumeki was his grandson, and Doumeki, despite his stociness, showed a lot of his emotions when he was younger... Haruka knew that something was up. He asked, "What's wrong?"

Doumeki hesitated before looking at his grandfather square in the eye. "When Grandmother became unable to walk anymore, did you still want to take her out to places?"

"Of course!" the old man answered. "Keeping her inside was bad for her health and mentality. She always was an outdoors person..." His eyes drifted to the leaves moving gently with the breeze. He experienced a brief moment of nostalgia before he turned back to his grandson and asked, "Is this about Watanuki-kun?"

"Ah."

Haruka looked at him sadly. "It's different with Watanuki-kun, Shizuka. He's bound himself within the store. He can go outside since the yard is part of the store… but I know that you're not talking about that 'outside', right?"

Doumeki didn't say anything.

Haruka asked, after a short pause: "Where is it that you want him to go?"

"...Somewhere with me."

Haruka chuckled. "Aren't you always with him in the first place?"

"That's not what I meant."

"I know. I know," his grandfather said, with a smile. "So... where exactly?"

Doumeki looked at the floor. "...I don't know."

"Oh? Then… where does Watanuki-kun want to go? If he could, that is."

"He doesn't know either. I gave him some magazines to look at some days ago."

"And he hasn't talked about it at all?"

"He's busy."

Haruka was thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm…" Then, his eyes darted to something in the air near the trees. Doumeki couldn't see what was there but he knew something was there because Haruka's face turned serious and he said, "It's time for me to go. I've got to get working again…"

"Eh-"

The old man turned to his grandson and smiled. "Don't worry. Everything will work out. Something may go wrong if you have plans, so don't have any… _Just be patient… and go with the flow…_

**o o o**

"Are you alright, Doumeki-san?"

Doumeki knew that the dream had ended. It was a weird experience. It felt like his eyes were open the whole time while he was laying down unconscious on his futon in his room. He grunted a reply.

There was a sigh of relief from somewhere by his feet. "That's good…"

"...Is it morning yet?"

"No, it's only night. 21:35 to be precise. It's only been an hour since you fainted," said Yousuke.

_Fainted_. He had never fainted before. As far he remembered, that is. The word echoed in his ears. Was he becoming weaker?

He painfully sat up, with a little help from Mokona on his back, and looked at Yousuke. The teenager looked like he had ran a marathon. He was sweating and his clothes were ruffled. It was as if he was the one going through all the pain. But Doumeki knew that he had been the one taking care of him. He put it somewhere in his head to thank him later.

He started to get up but Yousuke forced him back down. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I need to drive you home."

"It's okay! I'll just call my mom and tell her that I'll be staying overnight at Jun's place. And besides, you need more rest than I do." And to prove his point, he said, "See, your eyes are drooping and Mokona's holding up your weight back there." He wiped some sweat off his eyebrows. "As for me, I need a shower. Taking care of someone really tires one out."

Doumeki could only comply. He was tired, anyway. He laid himself carefully back down on his futon and closed his eyes. He felt Mokona's light hops next to him as the creature pulled blankets up to his chin. He heard Yousuke sigh and then speak in a low whisper, "Mom-... Sorry, Mom… I'm really sorry!... Really… Yes… Yes… Um, uh, Jun kinda fell asleep and I don't want to wake him… Yes…"

_What a good kid._

The conversation went on for a few more minutes or so. Doumeki was too tired to catch any more words. He drifted off into Dreamland, and had one short but repeating dream. And it had fireworks in it...

* * *

**I need some sleep. Please review while I sleep.  
**Oh, and about Haruka's wife, I made her condition up. _No one knows anything about her... _


	19. DWE3: The Answer

**A/N:** You must hate these extras by now, seeing as how the time is moving around so much, going back and forth and forth and back and all that. I'm tired of it too, having to check back into the previous chapters to make sure I add in anything I said before and to make sure I've got the stuff right. But it's soon going to be coming to an end! Only one more chapter to go and that'll be the end of _Telephone_! :D **~SEi**

***Note:** This takes place after Chapter 10 "The End".

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC, or the characters involved.

**- - - - - - - - - - - - D/W-Extra 3. The Answer**

It was two days after the incident with the_ inugami_ that Watanuki waited for Doumeki at the door - which was unusual for him. It was usually Doumeki who waited for him to hurry up with his business so that they can 'hang out'. But today, he had something important to say and he wanted to get it over with quickly.

Mokona and the twins were playing out in the front yard and Watanuki heard them squeal when Doumeki entered the store's boundaries. As he impatiently waited the few minutes until Doumeki opened the door, he thought over what he was going to say.

"What's inside the bag? What's inside the bag?" asked the twins as they walked towards the door.

Doumeki didn't answer. Instead, Mokona said, "I bet it's snacks!"

The twins cheered.

_C-Claaack_, went the door as Doumeki slid it open.

"IWOULDLIKETOGOTOTHESEA!"

Maru and Moro who were grasping the arms of Doumeki; Mokona who was on Doumeki's head; and Doumeki, himself, stared at Watanuki who was out of breath from yelling and… something else that the four couldn't put their finger on.

A few seconds passed before Watanuki abruptly stood up straight, gave a fake cough and looked away. Doumeki was the only one who noticed how red Watanuki's ears were, because Mokona and the twins were hurriedly trying to leave. What else would you do when someone screams at the most likely person they're screaming at?

Mokona took the bag of snacks out of Doumeki's hand and hopped after the twins who were quickly going to the kitchen, leaving Doumeki standing in the open doorway with the seer.

After the noise of footsteps and door-shutting faded and silence crept into the entryway, Doumeki slid the door shut behind him and asked, "What?"

Watanuki hesitated and then mumbled, "I would like to go to the sea."

"What?" Doumeki asked again, walking towards Watanuki this time so as to hear him clearer.

When Doumeki stopped about a foot away, Watanuki, who still did not look at Doumeki, mumbled again: "The sea. I want to go to the sea."

"The sea?"

Watanuki nodded.

There was a pause as Doumeki tried to process this bit of information in his mind. Watanuki closed his eyes as he waited for Doumeki's response. I_ knew it was stupid. But why did I say it anyway?_ He opened one eye and looked at Doumeki, who was staring at him.

"The sea?" Doumeki repeated, as if he was questioning himself in hearing Watanuki wrong.

"...Yes. The sea…"

Doumeki's eyes seemed to change. The man sighed and then, he leaned against the wall. This action surprised Watanuki. He tried to read Doumeki's face. The man's eyebrows were furrowed and he had a frown. This surprised Watanuki even more._ Is he… disappointed or something?_!

"Wh-What's with you? You asked me where I wanted to go, and I want to go to the sea! Why are you frowning_?_!"

Doumeki shook his head as if to dismiss the entire topic. He started walking away from Watanuki, towards the kitchen where a loud ruckus was forming over the snacks.

Watanuki watched him walk away, in disbelief. He felt his ears burn again. "What's your problem_?_!" he yelled at Doumeki's back.

Doumeki, who was standing in front of the kitchen door, answered Watanuki in his head.

_I can't tell you._

_

* * *

_

**That was a quick chapter, with a little OOC at the end.  
Now onto the last chapter, mates! Argghh!~**


	20. DWE4: The Sea

**A/N:** Alas, it's finally the awaited last chapter / DouWata extra! I sincerely hope you enjoy. And I don't think I need to say this, but this takes place after the previous chapter which was Chapter 19 "The Answer". **~SEi**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own xxxHOLiC, or the characters involved. But I love them a lot.

**- -** _l a s t _**-**_ c h a p t e r_ **- - D/W-Extra 4. The Sea**

When Doumeki got home, he tiredly sat down on his futon and sighed heavily. His mind still rested on the matter that had happened a few hours ago in the store. _The sea…_ he thought, frowning. He smirked and said aloud this time, "The sea…" Then, his frown came back. _What a big problem…_

Doumeki had planned to bring whatever place that Watanuki wanted to go to, to the store. It was possible, since all he needed were decorations and stuff. And if that didn't work, he could probably make up a dream in which the setting was that place. But that would require more time.

His eyes darted around his room as if the answer to his problem might be hidden somewhere. But no, he knew his problem could only be solved through a lot of thinking and planning. He sighed again and leaned back, collapsing onto the softness of the futon beneath. He closed his eyes and thought about what he was going to do.

The clock on the wall ticked constantly as time passed continuously by. A steady breeze blew into the room from the open doors that led to the yard. Far off outside, a cicada chirped its song, and another cicada in another direction answered back.

Then, Doumeki's eyes slowly opened and a smirk formed itself on his mouth. _It'll work._

**o o o**

Watanuki completely ignored Doumeki when he came over the next day. He was still mad about the day before. When he looked at Doumeki's face on impulse, it was the usual poker face, as if the man had forgotten about it. He got more angrier just thinking of it. At least his answer was the truth. He really wanted to go and see the vast and amazing sea. And he hadn't been to the sea for… who knows how many years already?

He shook his head before his mind automatically calculated how many years it actually was, and sluggishly walked out of the room. He went to the kitchen and absentmindedly took out some ingredients and placed them on the table. When he finally noticed that he had done this, he sighed and said, "Might as well cook something…" With that, he put on his apron.

An hour went by before he thought to himself: _How is he going to bring me to the sea even if he says he'll bring me there?_

He shrugged the question off his shoulders just as the oven bell rang.

**x x x**

It was evening by the time Watanuki looked in the refrigerator and said to himself in an almost-surprised tone, "It's empty."

He closed it and then looked around the kitchen. Food lay on all the counters and filled the entire dining table. The room was filled with the smell of every one of them that it was kind of suffocating. He had made a delicious lunch and dinner fit for a king and an army, and a lot of beautiful desserts that could probably win every dessert contest out there, not just because of its extravagant decoration but from the abundance of it.

"Hm. Well, that was a good work out," he said, grinning proudly. Then, his mind went back to the emptiness of the refrigerator. "I've got to remember to ask Doumeki to buy two times the normal amount that he usually buys…" His grin turned into a frown just as he thought of the poker-faced man. "Just had to ruin my good mood…"

And as if anything could ruin his good mood even more, Doumeki came into the kitchen, with no shirt on. Sweat glistened on his muscles and dripped off his hair. Or was it just water?

Watanuki's mouth turned into a deep frown. "Why is it that you always show up when I don't want to see you?"

Doumeki didn't answer. Instead, his eyes rolled from side to side, taking in the great scene before him. "What's all this? Are you having a party?"

"What about you? Why do you have no shirt on?"

"I took a shower."

"That's no excuse to not wear a sh- Don't touch that!" He slapped Doumeki's outreaching hand from one of the cookie trays on the counter. "It's still cooling."

Doumeki just gave a blank look as if he didn't care about burning himself. He reached out again but Watanuki slapped his hand again. The seer yelled, "Don't touch this and go put on a shirt!"

"But it's hot."

"I don't care! Go!"

"My shirt stinks of sweat."

"Then wash it!"

"It's in the wash right now."

"Then go home and get a new shirt!"

"Like this?" Doumeki gestured at his bare chest.

Watanuki blushed. "Alright, alright! I'll get a yukata for you," he said, as he took off his apron. He hung it on its hook and walked towards the kitchen doorway. Before exiting, he said, "Don't touch anything! And I mean it."

Watanuki knew that Doumeki wouldn't care for a weak threat like that. And sure enough, Doumeki took the cookie he was aiming at before and popped it in his mouth as soon as Watanuki turned his back on him.

**x x x**

"It fits perfectly. How odd," Watanuki said. "But since I found it in the treasure room, it must have been there just for you today."

Doumeki admired the simple design of the yukata. It was a light steel blue with two goldfish swimming towards the tail of the other - making a Yin Yang circle, on the back. The scales of both the black and white fish sparkled even though there wasn't a strong light source anywhere that could produce such a spectacular shine.

"Now that that's over with, time to eat," Watanuki said, heading for the kitchen. Doumeki followed shortly behind.

**x x x**

Half an hour later, the table was cleared and Watanuki wrapped up the leftovers, which amazingly wasn't a lot. When he finished doing that, he collapsed onto a chair and said, "I shouldn't have cooked so much…" Then his eyes darted to Doumeki, who was standing in front of a tray of pastries on the counter and about to put one in his mouth. "How are you still eating_?_!"

Doumeki shrugged. Watanuki closed his eyes and rested against the chair for a few minutes, before a shuffle in front of him made him open his eyes to see what it was. Doumeki had sat down across from him and was staring at him.

After a few short seconds of staring at one another, Doumeki asked, "Come with me."

Watanuki snorted and jokingly said, "To where? The sea?"

"Yeah," was Doumeki's reply.

Watanuki's laugh died out and he stared at Doumeki in disbelief as the man stood up, and motioned for Watanuki to follow him. Watanuki slowly got up from his chair and then dragged himself to where Doumeki stood waiting for him.

**x x x**

"Why do I need to cover my eyes?" Watanuki asked, adjusting the blindfold until it was more comfortable for him.

"Just follow me."

"Ha ha, as if I can see anything." But he felt Doumeki's light pull as he led the way, and his push when he was supposed to turn a corner.

Watanuki could feel the floor with his bare feet and he knew by the directions in which they were going that they were heading for the yard. Then, suddenly, he was lifted in the air. "Wh-What are you doing_?_! Put me down!"

After a few minutes, Doumeki did as he said. Watanuki was gently placed on his feet and before he could yell at Doumeki, he felt something soft beneath his feet. "What is this?" he asked aloud, as he wiggled his toes, trying to figure out what it was himself.

Watanuki felt Doumeki's hand near his forehead, trying to pry off the blindfold. Even after the blindfold was taken off, he still had his eyes closed. He wanted to figure out the setting himself. He sniffed just as a breeze glided by. The air smelled kind of… salty…

He opened his eyes. The first thing that came out of his mouth after taking in the whole scene wasn't "Wow", but a "What did you do to my yard_?_!"

"Nothing much."

"What do you mean 'Nothing much'? I-it's… it's… for Heaven's sake, there's water and sand _everywhere_!"

Doumeki nodded as if what Watanuki said was something to agree with.

As Watanuki took in the precise details of everything, he asked, more to himself than to Doumeki, "Is this really my yard? It looks bigger… But…"

The seer walked towards the water which glistened in the moonlight. "Is this a dream?" He touched it and felt the coolness of it. "I guess not… But still!" He turned to Doumeki. "How did you manage all this? Did you use magic or something?"

Watanuki's face was priceless when Doumeki explained in short and simple sentences of what he did while he was cooking: He brought some props, some lights, some aquarium stuff, a lot of salt water and sand. How he managed to get them, Watanuki did not want to ask, seeing a smirk grow so wide on Doumeki's face that it looked almost creepy.

"Well, I… Y-You brought me the sea." He was at a loss of words after that. Then after a few seconds of silence, he said with a playful frown, "But it doesn't _sound_ like the sea…"

"Oh. Yeah." Doumeki walked a few feet back and clicked something. The sounds of the sea suddenly burst into the air with a blast.

Watanuki's eyes widened and he broke up laughing. Tears formed in his eyes from laughing so hard. But then, his laughter turned to hiccups and he ended up crying. "Y-You really… You really brought me… the sea…"

Doumeki came back and put a hand on Watanuki's head. "It's okay... right?"

"Yeah," Watanuki said between sobs, "It's okay."

The calls of a seagull came from the CD and that made Watanuki start giggling again. He was actually at a beach near the sea. He felt _free_. As free as the horizon. He wiped his tears and then faced Doumeki. He blushed before saying, "Thank you…"

Doumeki gave a smirk and patted Watanuki's head. Watanuki lifted his heavy hand off of his head and held it for a few seconds. Suddenly his face changed. "When did you get taller than me?" He was actually tilting his head a little just to look Doumeki in the face.

Doumeki shrugged. And before Watanuki could say anymore, a sudden burst of light flashed in the sky over the roof of the store. Another light flew up into the night sky and exploded in many different colors. Another came and went, and another and another. They were the timed fireworks that Doumeki had placed in the front yard. And what good timing they had.

By the time the fireworks ended, the bright quarter moon had risen higher in the dark sky, illuminating the entire beach below. Watanuki glanced over at the waves the water made (due to the machine that Doumeki put somewhere), and then eyed Doumeki.

"So… how are you going to clean all this up?" He gestured around the yard with a hand.

Doumeki shrugged and then he said, "Mokona."

That made the seer laugh.

_Flash!_

"Huh?" Watanuki blinked to get the excessive light out of his eyes. "What was…" Then, he saw the instant camera in Doumeki's hands. "Where did you…"

Doumeki took the film out of the camera and looked at it. He smirked when he saw the content of the photo. He showed it to Watanuki and the seer's immediate reaction was to grab at it. "Give me that back!"

Doumeki stretched his arm up, making the photo be out of Watanuki's reach. "It's not yours."

"Yes it is! It's me and my face, so give it back!"

"This is my camera, my photo."

"I don't care! Give me it!" He whacked Doumeki's chest with a fist. "Why do you have to be taller than me when I least want it_?_!"

Doumeki smirked. But suddenly, a gust of wind blew the photo out of Doumeki's hand (he had a light grip on it) and it flew away from them, towards the water. Both of them ran after it like they were being chased by dinosaurs. Doumeki got to it first but then Watanuki tripped behind him and pushed him down. They were half in the water and half on the beach now.

"I got it!" Watanuki said, holding the photo triumphantly.

Doumeki's hands and bottom were in the water, propping the seer up. While the seer was completely dry, except where his yukata accidentally touched the water (because they were so reckless, the yukata got loose and was slipping off), Doumeki was everything but dry. From the crash, a splash of water had wet his head and his yukata also had begun to slide off his wet body.

"Heh."

"Wh-What are you laughing at_?_!" But then, Watanuki looked at Doumeki's face and blushed. It was so close and… his face was... he didn't know the word. He tried "manly".

He climbed off him and onto the beach again, all the while blabbering: "If you hadn't took the picture in the first place, I wouldn't have chased you and you wouldn't have gotten wet and…"

As Watanuki had blabbered, Doumeki had gotten up and was squeezing the water out of the yukata. Watanuki took a peek at Doumeki just as the man slicked his hair back. He immediately looked away when they made eye contact.

"W-Well, anyway, I guess um…"

"Hn…"

"A-Are you going to… um… s-stay over… f-for the night?"

"I guess."

"Oh… o-okay…" Watanuki started heading back towards the store. "Then, um, I'm going to go… sh-shower…"

"Wait."

Watanuki stopped and turned around, questioningly.

"Let me go first. I'm more wet than you."

"Oh… okay."

Watanuki let him go ahead of him and then began following him back in. It was at the doorway that he noticed that the fishes on Doumeki's yukata had disappeared._ Where did they go?_ he wondered.

**o o o**

Watanuki found out the next day that the fish had magically swam out of the yukata and into the 'sea' in the yard when Doumeki had fallen into the water. Since the fish seemed to like the spot where they had fallen, Watanuki kept a small pond in that area even after Doumeki (and Mokona, with his amazing 'suction') cleaned everything up.

While it was a home for the Yin Yang fish, it was also a memory of the midsummer night event in which Watanuki saw the sea one last time.

* * *

**I feel like I totally killed the sexy - or should I say 'manly' - scene, with the last parts about the fish.  
**But whatever. I finally finished! And that's a good thing for me because I'm missing important beauty sleep. (It's almost midnight now...)  
~And in the spur of the moment while typing the ending, I just wanted to say 'midsummer night' in it. (Too bad it wasn't really a dream, Shakespeare. You would have gotten a little credit.)

**Oh, and sorry if they were OOC at some parts.** I was kinda just rambling along, trying to get on with the story. I don't think I remember what I actually typed. And no, I'm not going to reread it. I'm too tired to do it. So if you see any mistakes anywhere, do tell me in a review. Thank you!

***I hope you enjoyed this last chapter of _Telephone_,** even though these last DouWata extras had absolutely nothing to do with the main storyline! (Yes, damn, I should have made this original storyline as a whole new story, but still... at least it kinda connects...)

Thank you for reading all the way up to here! :D / **Yours truly ~ SEi** .


End file.
